GIFT  OF 
SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 
DR.  JOHN  R.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 
JAMES  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORI 

to  tin 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


JOHN  FISKE 


a 

This  book  is  DUB  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


OEC4      192« 

FEB   $  1  1930 
'JUN  1  0  193d 


IF.O  7 

FEB  6     1935^ 


'     yAV    1 

S?        ABP  ?  8 
AOG  24 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Lo*  Angeles 


- 


B« 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE; 


1  GUIDE  TO  THE  SUCCESSFUL  CULTIVATION  OF 


FLORISTS'  PLANTS, 


AMATEUR  AND  PROFESSIONAL  FLORIST. 


BY 

PETEE  HENDERSON, 

GARDENING  FOB  PROFIT,"  "  GARDENING  FOR  PLEASURE,"  "  HAH» 
BOOK  OF  PLANTS,"  "  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS,"  "  HOW  THE  FABM  PATS,"  ETC. 


NEW   AND    ENLARGED    EDITION. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


NEW    YORK: 

ORANGE    JUDD     COMPANY, 
1899. 


88236 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  congress,  in  tbe  year  18m.  b*  *H 

O.   JUDD    CO., 
1ft  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Lo^gress,  at  Washington. 


35 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 
How  to  Become  a  Florist 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Prices  of  Nursery  and  Greenhouse  Products  Abroad  and  at 

Home 15 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Profits  of  Floriculture. 19 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Aspect  ana  Sou 22 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Preparation  for  New,  and  the  Renovation  of  Old,  Lawns 24 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Laying  out  the  Flower  Garden 36 

CHAPTER  VH. 
Designs  for  Ornamental  Grounds  and  Flower  Gardens 31 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Planting  of  Flower  Beds 46 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Soils  for  Potting 54 

CHAPTER  X. 
Temperature  and  Moisture __.....    57 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Potting  of  Plants 63 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Drainage  in  Pots 68 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Expert  Garden  Workmen 6V 

(3) 


4  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Cold  Frames— Winter  Protection 71 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Construction  of  Hot-Beds ... 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Greenhouse  Structures —  76 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Wide  Greenhouses  for  Bedding  Plants  and  Rose  Growing 93 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Glass,  Glazing  and  Shading 98 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Modes  of  Heating 100 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Heating  by  Steam 101 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Base-Burning  Water-Heater 103 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Propagation  of  Plants  by  Seeds 106 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Propagation  by  Seeds— What  Varieties  Come  True  from  Seeds  ? 110 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Propagation  of  Plants  by  Cuttings 130 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
"  Saucer  System  "  of  Propagation 129 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Propagating  Soft-Wooded  Plants  in  Summer 131 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
Propagation  of  Roses  by  Cuttings 135 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Propagating  Roses  by  Grafting  and  Budding 141 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Greenhouse  Plants  Most  in  Demand  in  Market  in  Spring 143 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Cultivation  of  the  Verbena 148 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Cold-Frame  Plants  Most  Sold  in  Market  in  Spring 151 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Plants  Most  in  Demand  for  Window  Decoration  in  Winter 153 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Culture  of  Winter-Flowering  Plants  for  Cut  Flowers 154 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Rose-Growing  in  Winter 155 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
Bulbs  for  Winter  Flowers . 175 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
Violets,  Chrysanthemums,  Carnations,  and  Mignonette. 189 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Bouvardias,    Stevias,   Eupatoriums,    Heliotropes,    Poinsettia,  and 

other  Winter-Flowering  Plants.- 195 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
Orchids - -  204 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Chinese  Primrose,  Geranium,  Camellia  and  Eucharis. 208 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Plants  Used  for  Foliage— Smilax,  Asparagus,  Ferns,  etc „  211 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
Plants  Used  for  Decoration  of  Rooms. 213 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
General  Collection  of  Plants  Grown  Under  Glass 215 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
Construction  of  Bouquets,  Baskets,  etc... 217 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
Hanging  Baskets 230 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
Parlor  or  Window  Gardening 243 


6  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE, 

CHAPTER  XLVL 
Formation  of  Rock-Work,  and  Plants  for  Rocks 250 

CHAPTER  XLVH. 
Are  Plants  Injurious  to  Health  ? 252 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 
The  Injury  to  Plants  by  Forcing. - 254 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 
Nature's  Law  of  Colors 256 

CHAPTER  L. 
What  Flowers  will  Grow  in  the  Shade  ?. 259 

CHAPTER  LI. 
Succession  Crops  in  the  Greenhouse 261 

CHAPTER   LJI. 


Packing  Plants 

CHAPTER  LILT. 


Plants  by  Mail.... 

CHAPTER  LIV. 
Insects  and  Diseases  affecting  Plants 

CHAPTER  LV. 


Mildew. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 
Diary  of  Operations  for  the  Toar.... 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

The  Culture  of  tirape  Vines  under  Glass 
e 


PREFACE  TO  FOURTH  AND  GREATLY 
ENLARGED  EDITION. 


It  is  eight  years  since  the  last  edition  of  "Practical 
Floriculture"  was  published.  Great  strides  have  been 
made  in  Floriculture  in  this  country,  even  in  that  short 
time,  particularly  in  the  growing  of  Roses,  Bulbs,  and 
other  prominent  classes  of  plants  for  winter  flowers, 
in  all  of  which  we  have  endeavored  to  give  as  plainly 
as  possible  the  details  of  the  most  approved  methods 
as  practiced  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  City,  where 
at  the  present  time,  a  higher  degree  of  perfection  is 
believed  to  have  been  attained  than  in  any  other  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  or,  perhaps,  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
London,  Paris,  and  other  large  European  cities  may  yet 
excel  us  in  the  variety  and  in  the  greater  care  of  plants 
grown  for  sale,  but  by  careful  observations  they  seem  to 
be  now  far  behind  us  in  the  methods  of  producing  the 
leading  kinds  of  winter  flowers  grown  for  sale. 

Although  prices  for  both  cut  flowers  and  plants  are 
even  less  than  when  the  last  edition  of  this  work  was 
written,  the  improvement  in  green-house  structures,  to- 
gether with  improvements  to  lessen  the  labor  of  culture, 
have  kept  the  business  of  commercial  floriculture,  so 
that  all  things  considered,  it  is  quite  as  profitable  as  it 
was  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  There  are  now  believed  to 
be  over  10,000  florists  in  the  United  States,  a  large  per 
centage  of  whom,  if  not  making  colossal  fortunes,  are 
making  comfortable  livings  in  a  safe  and  pleasant 
business. 

PETER  HENDERSON. 


(7) 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


CHAPTER    I. 
HOW    TO    BECOME   A   FLORIST. 

I  am  often  asked  the  question  if  it  is  necessary  in  order 
to  become  a  florist  to  enter  some  large  establishment 
for  a  few  years,  or  whether  it  is  possible  to  learn 
from  reading  only.  I  reply,  if  it  can  be  afforded,  it  will 
be  best,  by  all  means,  to  serve  at  least  two  years  in 
some  well-conducted  establishment — one  that  has  been 
long  enough  established  to  have  made  the  business  a  suc- 
cess, for  the  best  index  of  ability  in  any  business  is  suc- 
cess. I  have  said,  if  it  can  be  afforded,  as  for  the  first 
two  years,  unless  a  youth  proves  himself  unusually  smart, 
he  will  not  likely  receive  more  than  enough  to  pay  his 
board,  for  he  is  simply  an  apprentice  under  instructions, 
who  has  come  with  the  design  of  leaving  when  he  has 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  trade,  and  just  at  the  time 
when  he  begins  to  be  of  use  to  his  employer. 

But  to  those  to  whom  it  would  be  inconvenient  to  place 
themselves  thus  under  instructions,  a  knowledge  of  the 
business  could  be  unquestionably  obtained  from  books, 
particularly  if  actual  practice  were  followed  conjointly 
with  the  reading.  There  are  now .  thousands  of  my 
patrons  (about  one  tenth  of  whom  are  ladies),  located  in 
nearly  every  State  of  the  Union,  who  have  worked  them- 
selves into  the  florists'  business  exclusively  by  reading 
(9) 


10  PKACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

and  their  own  practice,  having  had  no  opportunity  for 
other  instruction.  In  not  a  few  cases  some  of  these  have 
got  ahead  of  what  are  known  as  professional  gardeners, 
those  who  have  had  no  other  experience  than  that  received 
in  private  gardens  in  Europe,  which  by  no  means  fits  them 
for  the  American  style  of  commercial  floriculture.  The 
increase  of  a  taste  for  flowers  for  the  past  thirty  years  has 
been  truly  wonderful.  A  gentleman  who  has  a  turn  for 
statistics  in  this  peculiar  line,  informed  me  that  he  had 
begun  to  procure  information  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try of  the  numbers  engaged  in  the  trade,  together  with 
the  capital  employed.  He  said  that  his  investigations 
for  this  locality,  taken  in  the  rough,  extending  in  the 
radius  of  ten  miles  from  the  center  of  New  York  City, 
proved  that  the  number  of  florists'  establishments  was 
about  500,  and  the  capital  used  in  stock  and  struc- 
tures upwards  of  $6,000,000.  If  the  number  of  estab- 
lishments is  nearly  correct — and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  it — I  am  certain  that  the  value  is  not  overestima- 
ted, as  we  have  at  least  half  a  dozen  establishments  where 
the  capital  used  in  stock  and  buildings  must  be  nearly 
$100,000  each.  And  this,  too,  in  New  York  and  its 
suburbs,  where  the  taste  is  lower  than  it  is  in  either 
Boston  or  Philadelphia.  In  those  places,  no  doubt, 
their  excellent  Horticultural  Societies  have  done  much 
to  refine  the  tastes  of  the  people,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  neither  New  York  nor  its  adjacent  cities,  with  over 
two  millions  of  people,  have,  until  quite  recently,  had  a 
Horticultural  Society,  and  even  that  at  the  date  I  write, 
1887,  it  is  not  to  be  compared  with  either  that  of  Boston 
or  Philadelphia. 

GARDENING  AS  A   BUSINESS — HOW  TO   BEGIN. 

In  response  to  continued  inquiries  from  those  who  wish 
to  engage  in  gardening  as  a  business,  I  propose  in  this 
chapter,  to  give  briefly,  yet  comprehensively,  such  advice 


HOW  TO   BECOME   A    FLORIST.  11 

and  instruction  as  my  long  experience,  together  with  my 
intercourse  and  correspondence  with  hundreds  engaged 
in  the  various  branches  of  gardening,  enable  me  to  offer. 
I  find  that  the  persons  who  desire  to  begin  gardening  as 
a  business,  are  generally  such  as  have  had  their  tastes 
turned  in  that  direction  by  being  amateur  cultivators. 
Their  gratuitous  distributions  of  slips,  seeds,  or  roots,  to 
sometimes  not  over-grateful  recipients,  starts  the  ide& 
that  "  what  is  not  worth  paying  for  is  not  worth  having" 
is  as  true  of  garden  products  as  of  other  things,  and  that 
they  had  better  sell  than  give.  As  selling  means  busi- 
ness, the  question  then  is,  how  to  best  begin  the  business 
to  make  it  pay.  My  advice  to  all  such  inquirers  is,  to 
keep  away  from  large  cities,  unless  they  have  a  large 
capital  and  a  thorough  practical  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness. The  beginner  with  limited  means,  and  more  limited 
knowledge  of  the  business,  would  be  quite  unable  to 
compete  with  those  who  have  been  long  established,  and 
such  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  all  cities  of  100,000  in- 
habitants, or  over.  On  the  other  hand,  in  cities  of  5,000, 
10,000,  15,000,  or  20,000  inhabitants,  the  business  may 
be  begun,  and  profitably  carried  on,  with  but  little  capital 
and  a  moderate  amount  of  knowledge  at  starting.  How 
to  start  is  the  all  important  question.  In  my  work  on 
commercial  gardening — "  Gardening  for  Profit" — I  have 
given  advice  on  the  culture  of  vegetables  and  fruits  as  a  sep- 
arate and  distinct  branch  of  the  business.  Further  experi- 
ence has  led  me  to  believe  that  it  would  often  be  of  great 
advantage  to  the  beginner  in  small  towns  to  undertake  the 
cultivation  of  small  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables  com- 
bined. In  a  town  of,  say,  5,000  inhabitants,  the  profits 
from  the  sale  of  flowers  alone  would  hardly  be  enough  tc 
warrant  a  beginning,  while  an  acre  or  two  of  well-grown 
fruits  or  vegetables  in  addition  would  make  quite  a  re- 
spectable business.  We  will  suppose,  then,  that  a  frugal 
man,  able  and  willing  to  work  hard,  has  a  capital  of 


1$  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

$1,500  to  $2,000;  let  him  select  not  more  than  two  acres, 
either  on  a  lease  of,  say,  10  years,  or  by  purchase,  as  near 
to  the  business  part  of  the  town  as  practicable.  The  soil 
should  be  of  a  quality  that  has  borne  good  crops  of  Hay, 
Corn,  Potatoes,  or  other  farm  produce.  Do  not  be  induced 
to  go  far  from  the  business  center  of  the  town,  because 
land  is  cheap  there ;  it  is  better  to  pay  $100  rent  per  acre 
for,  say,  two  acres,  a  mile  from  the  center  of  the  town,  than 
to  buy  land  at  that  price  three  or  four  miles  distant  for 
such  a  purpose.  It  is  a  fact  beyond  all  question,  that 
whenever  fine  specimens  of  fruit,  flowers,  or  vegetables 
are  offered  for  sale,  a  demand  is  created  that  did  not  be- 
fore exist,  and  would  not  then  have  existed  unless  these 
articles  were  placed  before  the  eyes  of  the  people.  Pre- 
suming, then,  that  the  one  or  two  acres  is  secured,  if  a 
dwelling-house,  stable,  or  other  buildings  are  to  be 
erected,  let  them  be  placed,  if  practicable,  on  the  north- 
east corner,  so  that  the  part  of  the  land  to  be  cultivated, 
or  where  greenhouses  are  to  be  erected,  be  not  shaded. 
If  flowers  are  to  be  grown,  of  course  a  greenhouse  or 
some  place  where  plants  can  be  protected  (see  Greenhouse 
Structures)  is  indispensable,  and  the  proper  construction 
of  that  is  a  matter  of  importance.  Perhaps  the  most  ap- 
propriate size  for  a  beginner  is  one  twenty  feet  wide  by 
fifty  feet  in  length,  which  may  be  heated  either  by  smoke- 
flues  or  hot  water  circulating  in  iron  pipes.  At  present 
prices  the  house  twenty  feet  wide  would  cost,  if  heated 
by  flue,  about  $9  per  running  foot ;  if  by  hot- water,  $15 
per  running  foot.  The  details  of  construction  are  given 
in  other  chapters  of  this  work.  This  greenhouse,  having 
an  area  of  1,000  square  feet,  should  produce  a  crop  of 
flowers  and  plants,  when  once  properly  stocked,  which 
should  sell  at  retail  for  at  least  $1,000  each  year.  The 
stock  of  plants  to  begin  with,  purchased  from  any  whole- 
sale florist,  would  cost  from  $100  to  $200,  according  to 
kinds.  The  annual  cost  of  fuel,  labor,  etc.,  after  it  is  in 


HOW  TO  BECOME   A   FLORIST.  13 

running  order,  should  not  exceed  $300  per  year.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  profit  on  the  investment  is  good,  if  the 
work  is  mainly  done  by  the  owner  ;  but  a  glass  structure 
of  this  size  would  not  pay  to  hire  a  man  to  work  it, 
though  it  would  be  large  enough  at  first  for  the  wants  of 
an  ordinary  population  of  5,000.  But  such  a  population 
will  buy  far  larger  amounts  in  fruits  and  vegetables,  and 
will  probably  buy  three  times  as  many  and  give  more  for 
them  if  fresh  and  home  grown,  than  they  would  for 
those  that  are  packed  and  shipped  from  a  distance.  In 
fruits,  Strawberries  hold  the  most  prominent  place,  and 
a  quarter  of  an  acre  will  contain,  at  two  feet  apart  each 
way,  about  2,500  plants.  If  these  are  planted  by  August 
1st,  from  plants  layered  in  pots  in  July,  the  ground 
having  been  properly  prepared,  at  least  1,000  quarts  can 
be  gathered  as  the  first  crop  ;  this  is  a  low  estimate,  the 
best  cultivators  claiming  to  gather  one  quart  per  hill  of 
the  large  fruiting  kinds.  Next  in  importance  in  small 
fruits  come  Easpberries,  Blackberries,  Grapes  and  Cur- 
rants, with  which  another  quarter  of  an  acre  might  be 
stocked.  This  would  leave,  if  there  were  two  acres  at  the 
start,  an  acre  and  a  half  to  be  devoted  to  vegetables.  Of 
this,  one-eighth  of  an  acre  might  be  devoted  to  Asparagus, 
and  the  same  amount  to  Rhubarb,  Beets  and  Onions,  Cab- 
bages, Cauliflower,  and  Lettuce,  and  to  Celery  ;  Cucum- 
bers and  Melons,  Tomatoes  and  Beans,  may  each  have  a 
quarter  of  an  acre,  while  one-eighth  of  an  acre  may  be 
devoted  to  other  things  not  provided  for.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  this  quantity  of  land  with  such  crops,  together 
with  the  care  of  greenhouse,  would  require  the  labor  of 
two  active  men  during  the  summer  months,  and  proba- 
bly at  some  part  of  the  time,  three,  but  in  winter,  one 
man  could  easily  do  it  all.  One  horse  would  be  sufficient 
for  cultivating  and  carting  manure,  etc.,  but  the  first 
plowing  of  the  land  in  spring  should  "be  done  by  two 
horses,  so  that  the  work  may  be  done  deep  and  thoroughly. 


14  PEACTICAL  FLOEICULTUBB. 

As  to  the  cultivation  of  fruits  and  vegetables,  it  is 
not  my  object  in  this  volume  to  give  detailed  directions 
"  how  to  do  it;"  for  these  reference  may  be  made  to  my 
work  "Gardening  for  Profit,"  new  edition  published  in 
1887.  I  merely  wish  to  show  that  in  small  towns  the 
combined  culture  of  fruits,  flowers  and  vegetables  can 
be  more  profitably  carried  on  than  the  culture  of  either 
by  itself.  My  first  attempt  at  commercial  gardening 
was  a  combination  of  the  business  of  market  gardener 
and  florist,  and  even  for  the  great  market  of  New  York 
I  believe  it  was  more  profitably  conducted  than  if  each 
had  been  run  separately,  for  on  wet  or  stormy  days,  when 
they  could  not  work  in  the  open  vegetable  grounds,  the 
men  were  turned  into  the  greenhouses,  where  their  labor 
was  just  as  profitable  and  valuable  as  in  the  open  field. 
But  while  arguing  for  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
this  combination  of  the  several  departments  of  a  kindred 
business,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  it  must  be 
done  at  one  place,  so  that  all  can  be  under  the  eye  of 
the  owner. 

Thirty  years  ago,  after  the  successful  culture  of  a  gar- 
den of  some  ten  acres,  combined  with  quite  an  extensive 
greenhouse  business,  my  ambition  led  me  to  think  that 
if  I  made  $3,000  a  year  from  ten  acres,  I  might  as  readily 
make  $9,000  from  thirty  acres,  so  I  undertook  the  culti- 
vation of  two  other  places,  each  some  ten  acres  in  extent, 
but  about  a  mile  apart.  A  trial  of  three  years  showed  me 
that  I  had  made  a  serious  mistake,  for  I  found  that  I  was 
actually  making  less  from  my  thirty  acres  than  I  had 
made  from  my  original  ten,  and  yet  I  had  experience, 
capital,  and,  I  believe,  as  much  energy  and  business 
capacity  as  the  average  of  mankind.  Had  the  thirty  acres 
been  all  in  one  spot,  the  result  might  have  been  different, 
but  it  is  probable  that  the  profits  would  not  have  been  in 
the  same  proportion,  as  if  ten  acres  only  had  been  culti- 
vated. This  lesson  to  me  was  a  salutary  one,  and  I  never 


PRICES  OF  NUESEEY  PBODUCTS.  15 

hesitated  to  state  my  own  case  to  any  one  who  informs  me 
of  his  intention  of  attempting  to  carry  on  gardening  in 
two  or  more  different  places  at  once. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   PRICES   OF   NURSERY   AND  GREENHOUSE  PRO- 
DUCTS ABROAD  AND  AT  HOME. 

While  the  price  of  labor  is  from  one-third  to  one-half 
more  in  this  country  than  in  Europe,  nearly  all  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  nursery,  greenhouse  or  garden  are  sold 
lower  here  than  there — not  merely  lower,  but  in  a  major- 
ity of  cases  at  less  than  half  the  price.  In  nursery  stock, 
I  have  the  authority  of  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  for  stating  that,  in  many  leading  articles  in  fruit 
trees,  the  difference  in  prices  in  favor  of  this  country 
are  as  follows  :  In  England,  Standard  Apple  trees  are 
quoted  at  $18  per  100  ;  the  same  quality  are  sold  here  at 
$12  per  100.  Dwarf  Pear  trees  there  sell  at  $35  per  100  ;. 
here  at  $15  per  100.  Standard  Pear,  Plum  and  Cherry 
trees  average  in  England  $18  per  100  ;  here  $15  per  100. 
Apricots  and  Nectarines  are  sold  for  about  the  same  price 
here  and  in  England,  but  Peach  trees,  which  are  sold 
here  at  an  average  of  $70  per  1,000,  are  sold  there  at  $150 
per  1,000.  The  general  assortment  of  ornamental  trees 
and  shrubs  shows  a  corresponding  average  in  favor  of 
lower  prices  here.  In  greenhouse  or  bedding  plants,  the 
difference  in  favor  of  our  lower  rates  here,  is  even  greater, 
both  at  wholesale  and  retail.  Carnations,  or  Pinks, 
which  are  quoted  in  England  as  specially  low  at  $20  per 
100,  are  sold  here  at  $12  per  100.  Ferns  sold  here  at  $6 
per  100,  are  offered  at  $8  there;  Tuberoses  and  Gladioluses 
that  are  now  sold  here  at  $2  and  $3,  are  quoted  there  at 


16  PEACTICAL  FLOBICULTURE. 

double  these  rates  (in  fact,  their  supply  oi  Tuberoses 
is  now  obtained  from  us),  while,  to  take  the  average  of 
bedding  or  greenhouse  plants,  that  may  average  here  $6 
per  100  to  the  trade,  are  offered  to  us  by  the  wholesale 
English  houses  as  specially  low  at  $8  per  100. 

Owing  to  the  unusually  dry  weather  a  few  years  since, 
nearly  all  our  stock  Fuchsias  were  destroyed,  so  that  we 
had  to  import  from  London  ;  the  price  paid  was  $25  per 
100,  the  very  same  quality  that  we  sell  at  $12  per  100. 
In  sales  at  retail,  particularly  for  new  plants,  the  prices 
paid  in  Europe  are  fully  four  times  more  than  we  charge 
here.  For  example,  a  new  Rose,  when  first  offered,  is  sold 
in  London  at  £1  Is.  (about  $6)  the  plant ;  here,  the  first 
sales  of  the  same  plant  are  at  from  $2  to  $3  each.  New- 
Fuchsias  or  Geraniums  are  rarely  sold  in  London  at  less 
than  $2  each  ;  here  we  think  we  are  getting  well  paid  if 
we  get  one-fourth  of  that  sum.  In  addition  to  the 
greater  price  paid  for  the  article  itself,  they  •  invariably 
saddle  us  with  the  expense  of  boxing  and  packing,  often 
no  small  item,  which  is  rarely  charged  by  our  florists. 
The  wonder  is,  that  Europe  can  ever  sell  to  us  at  all,  par- 
ticularly when  it  is  known  that  at  least  one-half  of  the 
imported  plants  are  lost  by  injury  sustained  in  transit. 
The  question  arises,  how  can  our  nurserymen  and  florists 

sell  so  much  lower,  and  make  the  business  pay for  that 

they  do  make  it  pay  quite  as  well  as  European  grow- 
ers do,  there  is  but  little  doubt.  The  answer  to  this 
is,  the  known  fact  that  the  high  cost  of  labor  has  long 
ago  forced  us  to  use  our  ingenuity  in  simplifying  our 
work.  What  we  do  with  the  plow,  most  of  the  English 
gardeners  still  think  it  necessary  to  do  with  the  spade. 
What  we  do  with  our  horse  or  hand  cultivator,  they  still 
do  with  the  hoe,  and  often  a  very  primitive  sort  of  hoe 
at  that.  Where  we  use  stakes  and  labels  that  are  made 
by  machinery,  they,  in  many  cases,  yet  make  them  by 
hand,  when  a  single  one  actually  costs  as  much  in  labor 


PRICES  OF  NURSERY  PRODUCTS.  17 

as  do  a  hundred  when  made  by  machinery.  When  it 
conies  to  the  manual  operations,  necessary  in  the  propa- 
gating and  growing  of  greenhouse  plants,  the  same  waste 
of  labor  is  apparent.  Our  average  propagator  will  take  off, 
make  and  set  in  bench  2,000  cuttings  per  day  ;  at  the  rate 
I  saw  the  propagators  of  two  of  the  leading  establishments 
in  London  working,  when  there  a  few  years  ago,  I  doubt 
if  the  average  was  500  a  day,  and  when  we  tell  them  that 
some  of  our  crack  workmen  can  place  10,000  rooted  cut- 
tings in  pots  in  ten  hours,  they  honestly  think  it  false,  for 
probably  not  more  than  one-half  of  that  number  has  ever 
been  done  in  the  same  time  there.  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood  as  saying  that  the  English  gardener  cannot 
move  as  rapidly  as  the  American  can,  but  custom  there 
clogs  his  hands  with  unnecessary  work,  to  accomplish 
the  object  desired.  The  other  day  a  man  of  forty  years  of 
age  presented  himself  to  me,  with  credentials  from  a 
long-established  Edinburgh  firm,  stating  him  to  be  an 
experienced  propagator  and  cultivator  of  plants.  To  test 
his  capabilities,  I  handed  him  a  lot  of  Kose  cuttings  to 
prepare,  every  one  of  which  he  cut  at  an  eye  or  joint,  in 
the  approved  orthodox  style  of  a  half  a  century  ago ; 
all  propagators  of  experience  here  have  long  known  that 
this  is  not  only  a  great  waste  of  materials,  but  a  still 
greater  waste  of  time,  and  we  never  do  it  unless  in  par- 
ticular cases  that  very  rarely  occur.  I  might  mention 
scores  of  similar  operations  which  are  performed  abroad 
in  a  manner  which  seems  to  us  as  primitive  as  this. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  subject,  tell  us  that  from 
the  specimens  of  the  "stone  period,"  at  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  at  Washington,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
it  took  some  thousands  of  years  for  our  "rude  fore- 
fathers "  to  discover  that  the  handles  could  be  better  fas- 
tened to  their  hammers  of  stone,  by  drilling  a  hole  through 
them,  than  by  lashing  them  to  the  handles  with  thongs  ; 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  not  very  ancient  history,  that  in 


18  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

parts  of  the  South  of  Ireland,  the  plow  was  attached  to  the 
horses'  tails,  and  that  a  great  row  was  the  consequence 
when  some  meddling  innovator  suggested  a  change.  It 
appears  that  mankind,  in  all  ages,  is  naturally  conserva- 
tive, and  it  takes  years,  sometimes  centuries,  to  get  out 
of  old  ruts.  If,  while  paying  for  labor  one-third  more, 
we  can  sell  our  garden  products  here  nearly  one-half 
lower  than  they  are  sold  in  Europe,  the  conclusion  is  in- 
evitable, that  we  have  learned  how  to  make  our  labor 
more  effective  than  they  do. 

The  adage,  that  "A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save 
in  his  own  country,"  is  true  in  this  matter  as  in  many 
others ;  for  we  find  that  most  Americans  having  horti- 
cultural tastes,  when  visiting  Europe  buy  largely  there, 
their  plants  costing  them  twice  as  much  for  half  dead 
trees  or  plants,  as  they  would  pay  at  home  for  healthy 
ones.  It  is  often  the  case,  especially  with  fruits,  that 
the  varieties  purchased  are  utterly  useless  for  our  climate. 
For  example,  the  Jargonelle  Pear,  Ribston  Pippin  Apple, 
and  Keen's  Seedling  Strawberry,  still  hold  a  first  place 
in  the  English  gardens,  while  experience  has  shown  them 
to  be  worthless  here.  So  with  many  ornamental  trees  ; 
beautiful  as  are  the  varieties  of  English  Holly  and  Rhodo- 
dendrons, hundreds  of  Americans  have  poured  down 
anathemas  on  the  heads  of  European  nurserymen  for  sell- 
ing them  as  "  hardy,"  plants  that  the  frosts  of  our  North- 
ern States,  or  the  hot  sun  of  the  South,  utterly  destroyed 
the  first  season. 


THE  PBOFITS  OF  FLOBICULTURB.  19 

CHAPTER    III. 
THE  PROFITS  OF  FLORICULTURE. 

It  is  much  easier  to  estimate  the  profits  of  the  products 
of  the  soil,  be  they  in  fruits  or  vegetables,  than  to  define 
by  any  certain  rule  what  the  profits  of  our  greenhouse 
floriculture  are.  In  fact,  we  can  only  approximate  to  it, 
because  the  conditions  in  which  the  operations  are  carried 
on  at  different  places,  or  the  different  articles  grown, 
make  anything  like  a  general  average  for  the  whole  coun- 
try impossible.  But,  as  we  have  heretofore  done,  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  the  district  of  New  York,  which  may 
be  taken  at  the  present  time  as  a  fair  representation  of 
the  whole  country. 

The  capital  required  in  starting  this  department  of 
horticulture  I  consider  need  not  be  so  much  as  in  that  of 
either  nursery,  vegetable,  or  fruit  growing,  and  the 
chances  of  moderate  success  I  believe,  from  my  observa- 
tions, to  be  far  greater.  I  say  moderate  success,  for  the 
chances  of  making  a  colossal  fortune  in  this  are  by  no 
means  so  good  as  in  the  regular  nursery  business,  while 
to  offset  this  the  chances  of  failure  are  less,  and  the 
business  is  pleasanter  and  less  exhaustive  to  follow.  I 
have  hardly  ever  known  a  man  who  has  started  in  the 
florist's  business  to  fail,  unless  he  brought  failure  on  him- 
self by  his  own  imprudence  ;  while  I  have  known  scores 
to  fail  in  the  vegetable  and  nursery  business,  from  causes 
entirely  beyond  their  control.  A  frugal  man,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  business  and  $1,000  capital,  may  safely 
start  in  this  vicinity,  or  in  any  vicinity  where  there  is  a 
town  of  10,000  inhabitants  of  average  intelligence  and 
culture.  But  the  difficult  question  with  all  at  starting 
is,  how  best  to  make  that  $1,000  available.  Of  course  ex- 


20  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

pensive  buildings,  such  as  we  describe  in  some  of  the 
chapters  on  greenhouse  structures,  are  beyond  his  means, 
and  something  cheaper  must  be  adopted.  (See  chapter 
on  Cheap  Greenhouses).  The  general  principle  on  which 
these  greenhouses  are  formed  is  in  all  respects  the  same, 
and  the  beginner  with  limited  means,  instead  of  erecting 
three  houses,  need  erect  only  one,  which  should  not  be 
more  than  fifty  feet  long  and  of  a  width  of  eleven  feet  in 
the  clear.  The  proportions  of  height,  etc.,  will  be  found 
in  the  drawing  on  page  77.  The  sides  may  be  formed  of 
cedar  or  chestnut  posts  planked  up  to  the  required  height, 
having  a  lining  of  tarred  paper  between  the  boards.  In 
this  way,  at  present  prices,  a  structure  of  this  kind,  with 
flue,  benches  and  all  complete,  need  not  cost  more  than  six 
or  eight  dollars  per  running  foot,  or  $300  or  $400  for  a 
house  of  fifty  feet.  But  something  else  will  be  needed 
besides  the  house,  and  sunken  pits  or  cold  frames  should 
be  erected  parallel  with  the  east  side  of  the  greenhouse 
and  connected  with  it.  A  portion,  say  half,  of  these 
should  be  excavated  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  and  used 
as  a  sunken  pit  for  Eoses,  etc. ;  the  cold  frame  portion, 
which  is  not  sunken  but  made  level  with  the  soil,  can  be 
used  to  grow  the  hardier  sorts  of  flowers,  as  Pansics, 
Daisies,  Pinks,  etc.  I  here  again  repeat  that  the  Rose, 
unless  grown  to  force  for  winter  flowers,  is  easily  injured 
by  fire  heat,  which  it  must  necessarily  receive  if  placed  in 
the  greenhouse,  in  which  are  grown  a  variety  of  plants 
that  require  fire  heat. 

These  pits  and  cold  frames  should  be  covered  up  care- 
fully, either  with  shutters  or  mats,  during  severe  weather 
in  winter,  and  care  taken  that  all  water  is  thoroughly 
drained  off  from  them.  The  sunken  pits  and  cold  frames 
of  twenty-five  feet  each  will  cost,  say,  $100,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  purchase  of  stock  and  coal  to  last  through 
the  winter,  would  make  the  expenditure  from  June  to 
November,  $600  or  $700,  leaving  $300  or  $400  for  ex- 


THE  PROFITS  Of  FLORICULTURE.  21 

penses  in  winter,  or  until  sales  open  in  spring.  If  the 
plants  hare  been  handled  with  even  average  skill,  the 
sales  should  by  June  give  a  profit  of  at  least  fifty  per  cent, 
on  the  capital  invested,  supposing  the  plants  to  be  sold 
at  the  average  retail  rates. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  what  the  profits  on  the  capi- 
tal invested  are  when  business  is  done  on  a  large  scale, 
the  articles  grown,  the  manner  of  selling,  the  economy 
of  management,  being  so  varied  that  in  this,  as  in  all 
other  occupations  in  life,  we  have  all  degrees  of  success. 
But  the  broad  fact  is  beyond  question,  that  the  profits  of 
the  business  will  compare  favorably  with  the  general  run 
of  business  in  which  the  same  capital  is  invested. 

One  fact,  very  flattering  to  our  florists  in  this  country 
is,  that  although  our  plants  on  an  average  are  sold  lower 
than  they  are  in  England,  and  our  new  plants  at  less  than 
one-fourth  of  the  prices  obtained  there,  the  business  is 
more  profitable  here  than  there.  Why  is  this  ?  the 
reader  may  doubtingly  ask.  Simply  that  our  necessities 
with  regard  to  labor  compel  us  to  apply  our  common 
sense  to  the  work,  and  we  cut  loose  from  many  of  the 
established  rules  with  which  many  of  the  English  florists 
are  yet  stupidly  trammeled. 

In  two  of  the  London  establishments  in  1872,  having 
each  about  100,000  feet  of  glass,  the  average  number  of 
hands  employed  during  the  year  was  fifty.  The  same  quan- 
tity of  glass  would  be  worked  here  in  a  style  quite  equal 
to  theirs,  as  far  as  the  quality  of  the  plants  goes,  with  less 
than  one-third  of  that  number.  I  am  informed  by  a 
gentleman  who  was  for  many  years  connected  with  one 
of  these  English  establishments,  that  the  profits  did  not 
exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  sales.  I  am  afraid  that  the 
smallest  operator  of  us  all  here,  would  soon  quit  the  work 
if  it  gave  no  better  results. 

For  the  past  fifteen  years,  cut  flower  growing,  partic- 
ularly the  growing  of  Bose-buds  in  winter,  has  been  more 


22  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

profitable  than  the  growing  of  plants,  and  is  so  even  at 
the  date  of  writing.  While  plant  growing  for  market  has 
probably  averaged  a  profit  of  thirty  per  cent,  on  the  invest- 
ment, Rose  growing  may  have  averaged  forty  or  fifty  per 
cent.,  and,  in  consequence,  the  structures  for  Rose  grow- 
ing and  other  cut  flowers  for  winter  are  increasing  much 
more  rapidly  than  those  for  plant  growing.  This  will  lead 
to  the  natural  result,  an  over-production,  and  my  advice 
to  beginners  in  all  small  cities  and  towns  is,  to  begin  a 
general  florist's  business,  adding  cut  flowers  to  it  if  need 
be,  but  do  not  risk  all  your  capital  on  any  one  specialty — 
at  least,  not  until  you  have  proved  beyond  question  that 
you  can  make  such  specialty  profitable. 

What  is  true  of  the  florist's  business  I  believe  to  be 
equally  true  of  the  nursery  trade,  and  it  is  much  to  be 
doubted  if  that  business  anywhere  in  all  Europe  is  so  sim- 
ply, yet  profitably,  carried  on  as  it  is  in  the  great  nurseries 
of  Rochester  and  Geneva. 


CHAPTER     IV. 
ASPECT  AND  SOIL. 

The  aspect  of  the  flower  garden,  when  choice  can  be 
made,  should  be  towards  the  south,  or  southeast,  and  if 
sheltered  by  hills,  or  belts  of  timber,  from  the  northwest, 
many  plants  and  trees  can  be  safely  grown  that  could 
not  otherwise  succeed  without  that  shelter.  Such  a  sit- 
uation also  permits  operations  to  be  begun  earlier  in 
spring,  and  continued  later  in  the  fall,  in  some  locations 
making  the  season  from  two  to  three  weeks  longer  than 
if  the  aspect  had  been  to  the  north  or  northwest. 

The  soil  in  flower  gardening,  as  in  all  horticultural 
operations,  is  the  basis  of  success,  and  is  of  even  more  im- 


ASPECT  AND  SOIL.  23 

portance  than  aspect  or  location ;  and  whether  it  is  the 
man  of  wealth,  looking  for  a  site  upon  which  to  build, 
and  surround  his  home  with  a  flowery  landscape,  or  the 
working  gardener  about  to  become  florist,  and  venturing 
his  hard  earnings  in  a  first  essay  in  business,  let  him  first 
be  certain  that  old  "  Mother  Earth,"  in  the  spot  about  to 
be  chosen,  is  in  such  condition  as  will  reward  his  labors 
with  success.  Soils  are  so  varied  that  it  is  difficult  indeed 
to  convey  to  the  inexperienced  by  description  what  the 
proper  character  should  be.  To  say  to  the  uninitiated, 
that  the  best  soil  for  all  garden  purposes  is  a  sandy  loam, 
not  less  than  ten  inches  deep,  conveys  very  little  infor- 
mation, unless  he  is  first  made  to  understand  what  a 
sandy  loam  is.  The  subsoil,  or  stratum  of  earth  imme- 
diately underlying  the  top  soil,  or  loam,  usually  deter- 
mines the  quality  of  the  soil.  If  it  be  gravelly,  or  sandy, 
then  the  top  soil  will  almost  invariably  be  a  sandy  loam  ; 
but  if  the  subsoil  is  of  putty-like  clay,  then  the  top  soil 
will  usually  be  of  the  same  nature,  and  be  what  is  known 
as  clayey  loam.  One  great  advantage  usually  in  soils 
having  a  gravelly  or  sandy  subsoil  is,  that  the  water  passes 
off  freely,  rendering  the  expensive  operation  of  draining 
unnecessary,  while  in  all  soils  with  clayey  subsoil,  dram- 
ing  must  be  done,  and  thoroughly,  or  failure  will  cer- 
tainly be  the  result.  Those  most  to  be  avoided  are  what 
are  known  as  "  thin  soils  ;"  these  may  be  either  of  sand, 
gravel,  or  clay,  being  in  many  places  little  more  than 
"subsoil,"  without  its  stratum  of  loam.  No  process  of 
manuring  or  cultivation  can  ever  bring  such  soils  into  a 
condition  to  compete  with  those  naturally  good ;  for  be 
it  remembered  that  manures  answer  only  a  temporary 
purpose,  and  exert  no  permanent  change  in  soil.  Our 
richest  market  gardens,  when  left  untilled,  relapse  into 
their  normal  state  in  three  years.  Thus  it  is  in  many 
parts  of  the  Southern  States,  that  plantations  are  said  to 
be  "worn  out"  in  a  few  years,  while  in  fact  it  is  simply  the 


24  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

supply  of  food  to  the  plants  that  has  been  exhausted,  -the 
organic  matter  formed  by  decaying  leaves  or  sods  having 
been  expended  by  the  crops. 

Supply  this  want  by  fertilizers,  and  you  again  have  the 
land  in  its  primitive  fertile  condition ;  but  this  must  be 
continued,  or  the  crops  will  again  show  indications  of  the 
soil  being  "  worn  out,"  but  quicker,  of  course,  on  a  thin 
soil  than  on  a  deep  one.  Hence  the  importance  of  select- 
ing, when  a  choice  can  be  had,  a  deep  soil,  with  a  subsoil 
of  sand  or  gravel. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  PREPARATION  FOR  NEW  AND  THE  RENOVATION 
OF  OLD  LAWNS. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  or  not  the  subjects  of 
Lawns  or  Landscape  Gardening,  come  under  the  province 
of  the  florist;  it  may  not  in  his  own  business  directly,  but 
hundreds  of  florists  are  appealed  to  every  season  by  their 
patrons  for  information  on  this  matter,  so  that  even  the 
brief  directions  I  am  able  to  give,  I  know  will  be  welcomed 
by  many. 

The  preparation  for  the  lawn  is  usually  preliminary  to 
the  laying  out  of  the  flower-beds  in  grounds  having  pre- 
tentions  to  the  modern  style  of  gardening.  It  is  the 
foundation  of  all  subsequent  operations,  and  if  imperfectly 
done,  it  can  hardly  ever  be  remedied  afterwards. 

We  not  unfrequently  see,  after  a  dwelling  costing,  5, 
10,  20,  or  30,000  dollars  is  erected,  that  the  grounds  sur- 
rounding it  are  left  to  the  tender  mercy  of  some  ignorant 
pretender  to  grade  and  put  in  shape.  The  educated,  in- 
telligent architect's  duties,  in  many  cases  end  with  the 
completion  of  the  building,  and  the  "garden  architect" 
— likely  some  pretentious  laborer — is  installed  to  grade  for 
the  lawn,  and  a  common  consequence  is,  that  the  beauty 


NEW  AND  OLD  LAWNS.  25 

of  the  place  may  be  forever  marred  —  for  this  matter 
really  often  requires  as  much  intelligence  and  good  judg- 
ment, a?  the  construction  of  the  dwelling  itself.  One  of 
the  first  conditions  of  a  perfect  lawn  is,  that  the  land  be 
drained  properly  either  naturally  or  artificially ;  if  the 
subsoil  is  sand  or  gravel,  so  that  water  can  quickly  pass 
through  it,  then  there  will  be  no  need  for  artificial  drains, 
but  if  there  is  a  stratum  of  adhesive  clay  for  a  subsoil, 
then  drains  at  every  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  are  indispensa- 
ble. As  the  formation  of  the  lawn  is  the  foundation  of  all 
subsequent  operations,  it  is  imperative  that  it  be  carefully 
done  ;  for  if  badly  done  at  first,  it  cannot  be  changed  or 
altered,  unless  to  the  great  detriment  of  trees  or  shrubs 
that  have  been  planted,  or  flower  beds  or  walks  that  have 
been  laid  ouc. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  is,  to  get  the  ground  shaped 
to  the  desired  grade,  taking  care  in  grading  that  when 
hills  and  rocks  are  removed,  sufficient  subsoil  is  also  re- 
moved to  be  replaced  with  top  soil,  so  that  at  least  five 
inches  of  good  soil  will  overlay  the  whole  in  all  places, 
and  where  trees  are  to  be  planted,  there  should  be  twice 
that  depth  of  good  soil.  When  the  grading  is  finished, 
if  the  nature  of  the  ground  requires  it,  drains  should  be 
laid  wherever  necessary  ;  then  the  whole  should  be  thor- 
oughly plowed,  a  subsoil  plow  following  in  the  wake  of  a 
common  plow,  until  it  is  completely  pulverized.  A  heavy 
harrow  should  then  be  applied  until  the  surface  is  thor- 
oughly fined  down  ;  all  stones,  roots,  etc.,  should  be  re- 
moved so  that  a  smooth  surface  may  be  obtained.  We 
have  used,  with  great  effect  and  saving  of  labor,  a  com- 
paratively new  implement  known  as  the  "  Disc  Smooth- 
ing Harrow,"  which  fines  and  levels  the  land  equal  to  a 
steel  rake ;  and  whenever  large  areas  are  in  preparation 
for  lawns,  or  in  fact  for  any  field  culture,  requiring  a  fine, 
smooth  surface,  this  implement  will  be  found  to  be  of 
great  value. 


26  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

When  the  seed  is  sown,  a  light  harrow,  such  as 
the  "Disc  Smoothing  Harrow,"  should  be  again  ap- 
plied, so  as  to  sink  the  seed  two  inches  or  so  in  the 
soil,  and  after  that  a  thorough  rolling  given,  so  that  the 
surface  is  made  as  smooth  and  firm  as  possible.  In  the 
latitude  of  New  York,  the  seed  may  be  sown  any  time 
during  the  months  of  April  and  May,  and  will  form  a 
good  lawn  by  July  or  August  if  the  preparation  has  been 
good,  or  in  about  one  hundred  days  from  the  time  of  sow- 
ing. If  sown  in  the  hot  months  of  June  or  July,  a 
sprinkling  of  oats  should  be  sown  at  the  same  time,  so 
that  the  shade  given  by  the  oats  will  protect  the  young 
grass  from  the  sun.  Lawns  are  very  often  sown  during 
the  early  fall  months  (September  being  the  best)  with  ex- 
cellent results.  For  small  plots,  of  course,  digging,  trench- 
ing and  raking  must  be  done  instead  of  plowing,  subsoil- 
ing  and  harrowing,  and  the  surface  after  sowing  should  be 
patted  down  with  the  back  of  a  spade  or  rolled  down  with 
a  roller.  On  sloping  banks,  it  is  often  necessary  to  use 
sod,  as  the  rains  wash  the  soil  off  before  the  grass  seed 
has  time  to  germinate.  It  is  sometimes  even  necessary, 
in  sodding  very  steep  banks,  to  use  wooden  pins,  eight  or 
ten  inches  in  length,  to  pin  the  sods  in  place,  to  prevent 
them  from  being  washed  down  by  excessive  rains  before 
the  grass  roots  have  had  time  to  fasten  in  the  soil.  In 
small  yards,  sodding  is  often  done  so  as  to  get  immediate 
results  ;  but  in  all  such  cases  great  care  should  be  taken 
to  see  that  the  sods  used  are  of  the  proper  quality,  other- 
wise it  is  much  better  to  wait  a  few  months  for  the  lawn 
seed  to  produce  the  lawn. 

TO  GET  A  LAWN   ON   A   SLOPING   BANK. 

Unless  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  get  a  growth  of  grass  from  the  seed 
on  a  bank  sloping  at  an  angle  of  even  fifteen  degrees,  bo 


NEW  AND  OLD  LAWNS.  27 

cause  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  on  the  sloping  bank  would 
run  off  the  fresh  soil  before  the  young  grass  had  formed 
enough  roots  to  mat  it  sufficiently  to  hold  it  in  place. 
To  remedy  this,  the  following  plan  will  be  found  to  be 
most  effective:  To  an  area  of  twenty  by  fifteen  feet — 
300  square  feet — or  in  that  proportion,  be  the  area  large 
or  small,  take  two  quarts  of  lawn  grass  seed  and  mix  it 
with  four  bushels  of  rather  stiff  soil,  to  which  add  two 
bushels  of  cow-manure.  Mix  the  whole  with  water  to 
the  consistency  of  thin  mortar.  This  mixture  is  to  be 
spread  on  the  sloping  bank,  first  having  scratched  the 
surface  of  the  bank  with  a  rake.  It  should  be  applied  as 
thinly  as  will  make  a  smooth  and  even  surface — in  short, 
just  as  plaster  is  spread  on  a-  wall.  The  grass  seed  will 
rapidly  start  and  quickly  make  a  sod  of  the  richest  green, 
its  smooth,  hard  surface  preventing  its  being  furrowed 
out  by  the  rains.  It  will  be  necessary,  until  the  grass 
has  fully  covered  the  surface,  to  keep  the  plastered  bank 
covered  with  hay  or  straw  to  prevent  the  plaster  from 
drying  or  cracking.  If  the  weather  is  dry  a  watering  will 
hasten  its  growth  ;  if  sown  at  a  season  when  the  temper- 
ature will  average  seventy  degrees,  a  green  sward  will  be 
obtained  in  fifteen  days.  By  this  method,  using  orchard 
or  other  strong  growing  grasses,  no  cheaper  plan  could  be 
adopted  to  keep  up  railroad  or  other  embankments. 

As  a  guide  for  the  proper  quantity  of  seed  required  to 
form  a  perfect  lawn  (sown  in  the  usual  way,  after  the 
ground  has  been  properly  prepared,  as  already  described), 
we  may  state  that  one  quart  of  lawn  grass  seed  is  suf- 
ficient to  sow  an  area  of  twenty  feet  by  fifteen  feet — 300 
square  feet — or  to  cover  an  acre,  four  bushels  will  be  re- 
quired. It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  order  to  pro- 
duce the  best  results,  grass  seed  for  lawns  should  be  sown 
twice  as  thickly  as  if  sown  for  hay.  In  fact,  if  very  rapid 
results  are  wanted,  a  lawn  will  be  much  quicker  obtained 
by  using  three  times  more  seed  per  acre.  In  a  lawn  of  about 


28  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

an  acre  in  extent,  which  we  made  lately,  six  bushels  c? 
lawn  grass  seed  was  sown  on  the  25th  of  April,  harrowed 
well  in  with  the  ordinary  farm  harrow,  then  rolled  firmly 
with  a  heavy  farm  roller.  The  result  was  that  by  July 
1st,  or  about  sixty  days  from  the  date  of  sowing,  a  per- 
fect lawn  was  obtained,  having  had  to  be  twice  mowed 
over  by  machine  previous  to  that  date. 

The  question  of  fertilizers  for  the  lawn  is  an  important 
one.  If  the  soil  is  naturally  a  deep,  rich  loam  it  is  not 
necessary  that  any  manure  at  all  be  used  the  first  season 
of  sowing,  although  in  every  case  it  would  be  an  advan- 
tage, and  is  really  essential  if  the  soil  is  poor  or  light. 
Perhaps  the  best  way  to  apply  well-rotted  stable  manure 
is  to  spread  it  thick  enough  to  cover  the  ground  after 
plowing  or  digging,  and  then  harrow  or  rake  it  in,  but 
when  cost  is  of  no  special  object,  the  best  plan  to  insure 
permanency  for  the  lawn  is  to  use,  as  above,  from  2,500 
to  3,000  pounds  of  coarse,  ground  bone  per  acre,  or  in  that 
proportion  over  lesser  areas,  as  the  bone  decomposes 
slowly.  This  quantity,  harrowed  or  raked  in  deeply, 
would  insure  a  "  velvet  lawn,"  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, for  six  or  eight  years  without  further  application 
of  manures. 

When  the  land  has  not  been  fertilized  before  sowing, 
it  is  necessay  to  use  some  top  dressing  of  manure  each 
season  to  keep  up  the  fertility  of  the  lawn,  and  nothing 
is  better  for  this  purpose  than  to  spread  over  it  late  in  the 
fall  (November  or  December),  short  stable  manure, 
enough  to  partially  cover  the  surface.  This  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  on  until  such  time  as  the  grass  shows 
signs  of  starting  in  the  spring,  when  the  rough  portion 
of  the  manure  should  be  raked  off  and  a  heavy  roller 
applied,  so  that  the  surface  of  the  lawn  be  rendered 
smooth  and  firm  for  the  mower.  If  the  top  dressing  of 
stable  manure  has  been  omitted  in  the  fall,  fine  bone  dust 
and  nitrate  of  soda  in  equal  parts,  or  any  good  brand  of 


NEW   AND   OLD   LAWNS.  29 

"lawn  enricher,"  mixed  with  finely  sifted  coal  or  wood 
ashes,  iu  equal  parts,  may  be  sowed  on  the  lawn,  about 
as  thick  as  sand  is  usually  strewn  on  the  floor,  and  rolled 
down,  or  where  the  soil  is  light  or  sandy,  clay  or  marl, 
broken  fine  and  sown  on  while  dry,  will  be  found  excel- 
lent to  encourage  the  growth  of  grass. 

Mowing  should  be  begun  in  spring  as  soon  as  the  grass 
is  two  or  three  inches  high,  and  continued  every  seven 
or  eight  days  until  the  cessation  of  growth  in  fall.  If  the 
lawn  is  gone  over  with  a  mower  once  a  week,  the  clip- 
pings are  best  left  on,  as  the  sun  quickly  shrivels  them 
up  so  that  they  never  appear  unsightly ;  but  if  mowing 
is  delayed  two  or  three  weeks,  then  the  grass  must  be 
laked  off,  which  should  always  be  done  with  the  regular 
lawn  rake,  as  the  ordinary  toothed  rake  injures  the  grass. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  soil  contains  seeds  of 
perennial  plants,  such  as  Dandelion,  Dock  or  Thistles, 
which  seriously  interfere  with  the  beauty  of  the  lawn. 
When  such  occur,  there  is  no  other  remedy  than  the  slow 
process  of  cutting  them  out  with  a  knife  ;  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  take  them  out  by  the  root.  If  the  "  crowns"  of 
these  perennial  weeds  are  cut  just  below  the  surface,  they 
will  not  grow  again.  It  is  a  comrron  belief  that  the  seeds 
of  these  weeds  are  in  the  grass  seed.  This  is  rarely  the 
case  ;  they  are  generally  wafted  from  adjoining  lands  and 
will  often  lie  dormant,  if  buried  deeply  in  the  soil,  for 
years,  until  the  preparation  of  the  soil  for  the  lawn  brings 
them  near  the  surface. 

To  Renovate  Lawns. — Lawns  that  have  become  worn 
out  by  neglect  or  other  causes,  and  where  it  is  not  con- 
venient or  desirable  to  renew  them  by  plowing  up,  may 
be  greatly  benefited  by  running  a  light  harrow  over,  if 
the  surface  is  large,  or  by  a  sharp,  steel  rake  for  smaller 
areas,  after  stirring  the  surface  by  such  means  judiciously, 
so  as  not  to  too  severely  hurt  the  roots.  Lawn  grass 
should  be  sown  over  the  surface  after  harrowing  or  raking 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


in  about  half  the  quantity  advised  for  new  lawns.  After 
sowing,  the  surface  should  be  harrowed  or  raked  over, 
and  firmly  rolled  or  beaten  down  ;  but  if  spurious  grass 
or  other  weeds  have  got  possession  of  the  lawn,  then  this 
way  of  renovation  would  not  be  satisfactory,  and  it  had 
better  be  plowed  under  and  sown  afresh,  in  the  manner 
already  given  for  the  formation  of  the  lawn. 


CHAPTEE    VI. 
LAYING  OUT  THE  FLOWER  GARDEN. 

In  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  the  taste  displayed  in 
this  matter  is  certainly  not  very  nattering  to  us  ;  com- 
pared with  that  shown  in  the  suburbs  of  London  or  Paris, 
we  are  wofully  behind.  Our  city  merchants  annually 
build  hundreds  of  houses,  the  cost  of  many  of  which 
range  from  $10,000  to  $50,000  each,  but  the  flower 
garden  surrounding  the  house  is  in  nineteen  cases  out  of 
twenty  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  some  ignoramus  who 
styles  himself  a  "Landscaper,"  and  who  generally  man- 
ages before  he  is  through  to  make  the  proprietor  appear 
to  be  utterly  devoid  of  taste,  if  not  utterly  ridiculous. 
A  worthy  of  this  stamp  held  kingly  sway  as  a  "Land- 
scaper" in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  a  few  years  ago, 
and  has  left  behind  him  some  wonderful  specimens  of 
his  art ;  he  was  great  on  "  Sarpentine "  walks,  as  he 
called  them,  and  had  a  true  artist's  horror  of  straight 
lines.  It  would  have  been  useless  for  Euclid  to  have  at- 
tempted to  demonstrate  that  the  nearest  distance  between 
two  points  was  a  straight  line.  Terry  knew  better  than 
that,  and  curved  accordingly.  One  of  the  most  marked 
of  his  efforts  was  made  in  behalf  of  a  "shoddy"  king, 
who  had  built  a  splendid  mansion  in  about  the  middle  of 


LAYING    OUT  THE   FLOWER   GARDEN.  31 

a  four-acre  lot.  The  carnage  drive,  entering  at  each  side 
of  the  plot,  was  made  in  his  best  "  Sarpentine  "  style, 
but  the  centre  approach,  a  six-foot  walk  for  pedestrians, 
started  at  a  point  in  the  centre  of  the  block,  and  was 
twisted  like  a  corkscrew  until  it  reached  the  hall  door. 
The  portly  owner  submitted  like  a  martyr  for  awhile,  but 
eventually  snubbed  Terry's  science,  obliterated  the  walk, 
and  got  a  more  expeditious,  if  less  artistic  method  of  get- 
ting to  his  home  ;  his  dogs  and  children,  having  less  rever- 
ence for  Terry's  art,  had  long  before  taken  the  initiative. 
But  this  is  only  telling  what  not  to  do,  which  perhaps  is 
as  necessary  as  to  tell  what  to  do  in  the  brief  space  that 
this  subject  can  be  treated  of  in  this  work.  The  follow- 
ing remarks  and  drawings  are  by  the  late  Eugene  A.  Bau- 
mann,  Esq.,  of  Rah  way,  N.  J.,  whose  ability  as  a  practical 
landscape  gardener  was  perhaps  second  to  none  in  this 
country,  as  the  thousands  of  acres  of  tasteful  grounds 
laid  out  by  him  in  this  and  adjacent  States,  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  will  attest. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
DESIGNS  FOR  ORNAMENTAL  GROUNDS  AND  FLOWER 

GARDENS. 
DESIGN   FOR   A   CITY    OR   VILLAGE   LOT. 

Figure  1  gives  a  plan  for  a  city  or  village  lot  of  100x200 
feet,  fronting  south,  but  without  stable  or  carriage-house. 

The  dwelling  at  1  is  supposed  to  be  without  area,  or 
entrance  to  the  basement  and  cellars  from  outside,  but 
with  the  water-table,  or  first  floor,  raised  above  the 
ground  some  five  feet,  and  the  earth  from  the  foundations 
and  cellars  employed  for  a  terrace,  rising  about  two  and 
a  half  feet  above  the  ordinary  level,  which  is  understood 
to  be  some  two  feet  above  that  of  the  public  road. 


32  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

This  plan  is  entirely  in  the  geometric  style,  or  with 
straight  walks  exclusively,  as  we  think  that,  considering 
everything,  this  arrangement  is  the  most  suitable  for 
small  lots. 

What,  indeed,  is  the  best  use  to  which  to  put  so  little 
room  ?  Fruit  trees,  vegetables,  and  large  pieces  of  lawn 
are  not  what  are  here  required  ;  fruit  and  vegetables  the 
proprietor  may  procure  at  the  market  cheaper  than  he 
could  raise  them  ;  lawns,  or  grass  plots,  would  not  be  ac- 
cessible for  any  amusement  or  exercise  in  damp  or  rainy 
weather.  Therefore  I  consider  well-made  walks,  that  may 
be  dry  in  the  afternoon  of  a  rainy  day,  much  more  needed 
for  the  promenade  of  persons,  who,  having  been  busy  all 
day,  require  some  exercise  and  fresh  air  in  the  evening. 
Fine  shrubbery,  flower-beds,  and  shade  are  also  required. 

In  a  planting  of  the  right  sort,  it  requires  not  much 
depth  to  form  good  belts  to  protect  the  place  against  the 
cold  winds,  or  sometimes  against  cool  neighbors. 

A  large  display  of  flowers  does  not  require  a  very  large 
space  of  ground,  and  if  plenty  of  flowers  should  be 
wanted,  as  is  generally  the  case,  their  quantity  may  be  in- 
creased by  a  judicious  selection  of  flowering  shrubbery. 

For  a  more  sheltered,  shady  walk,  I  should,  in  such  a 
place,  suggest  a  well-built  arbor,  covered  on  the  top  with 
out-door  grape-vines,  and  on  the  side  towards  the  house 
with  fine  flowering  climbers,  or  those  that  have  good  and 
durable  foliage,  such  as  Climbing  Roses  and  Honeysuckles, 
the  Clematis,  Akebia,  Viginia  Creeper,  Bittersweet  (or 
Celastrus  scandens),  Chinese  Wistaria,  etc.,  as  perma- 
nent plants,  which  may  be  trained  so  as  to  cover  the; 
whole  front ;  and  then,  for  variety,  of  a  dwarfer  habit  ana 
covering  the  lower  parts,  the  Madeira  Vine,  Canary-bird 
Plant,  and  Adlumia,  or  Allegheny  Vine.  Some  of  the 
new  Cucurbitacea,  the  broad-leaved  Periwinkle,  Ivies, 
and  a  number  of  other  sorts  may  be  recommended. 
I  intend,  in  progressing  with  the  explanation  of  the 


DESIGNS  FOR  ORNAMENTAL  GROUJJBE  33 


Fig.   1.— DESIGN  FOB  A  VILLAGE  LOT. 


34  PRACTICAL   FLOElCCjuTURE. 

numbered  objects  of  this  plan,  to  give  a  list  of  such  trees 
and  shrubs  as  are  required  on  a  small  place.  It  is  a 
point  which  ought  always  to  be  considered,  that  trees  and 
shrubs  fib  fa-  a  large  place  are  not  exactly  suited  to  a 
small  one,  whateve"  may  be  their  appearance  or  effect  in 
the  first  four  or  five  years  ;  the  mistakes  are  only  seen  in 
after  years.  Fortunately  for  the  generality  of  the  "land- 
scapers,"  before  the  effect  of  their  work  is  shown,  the 
owner  has  removed  to  a  bigger  house,  or  the  plan  ting  has 
been  neglected,  and  the  trees  have  died,  or  the  "  land- 
scaper  "  has  fcund  employment  far  away  out  West,  caring 
very  little  how  his  chefs  iTceuvre  in  the  East  may  look. 

At  2  is  the  terrace,  with  the  embankment.  Small  em- 
bankments ought  to  be  of  the  most  simple  shape  ;  any 
fancy  outlines  in  the  slope,  on  a  small  scale,  will  only  be 
seen  when  the  grass  is  freshly  cut  short,  and  they  are 
therefore  of  no  use.  3  is  the  main  approach  to  the  dwell- 
ing. (See  scale  for  width.)  At  20,  in  a  small  circle,  it  is 
intended  to  employ  a  fine  bush  of  Pyrus  Japonica,  to 
interrupt  the  view  from  the  street.  4  is  a  smaller  walk 
intended  for  the  use  of  the  family,  but  forming  with  the 
walk  3  a  continuous  circuit  around  the  place.  5  is  in- 
tended for  a  small  yard  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  with  the 
well  at  13.  6,  a  six-foot  walk,  passing  underneath  the 
arbor  ;  a  shady  place  in  summer.  7,  the  arbor,  with  only 
spare  room  enough  left  in  its  rear  for  attending  to  the 
climbers  and  grape-vines  planted  against  it.  8,  intended 
to  be  a  shed  for  wood  and  other  articles,  besides  a  hen 
house,  with  hen-yard,  at  10.  9,  an  office.  11,  a  bench, 
or  resting  place.  12,  benches,  or  even  stone  seats,  IE 
recesses.  14,  a  grass  plot,  to  be  used  for  a  drying 
ground,  and  also  as  a  play-ground  for  children,  sur- 
rounded by  seven  deciduous  shade  trees,  which  might  be, 
in  preference,  the  Silver-leaved  Maple  (Acer  dasy- 
carpum),  a  healthy,  strong-growing,  and  clean  tree.  At 
15,  for  variety  of  foliage,  a  Weeping  Willow.  1C.  a 


DESIGNS   FOR   ORNAMENTAL   GROUNDS.  35 

hedge-row  of  Siberian  Arbor -vitas.  17  is  a  flower  bed, 
with  an  outside  border  made  of  the  small-leaved,  trailing 
Juniper,  or  Juniperus  procumbens.  This  magnificent 
plant,  which,  in  small  beds,  forms  the  densest  glaucous- 
green  carpet,  may  be  easily  trained  for  a  border  by  plant- 
ing small  young  plants  at  eight  and  ten  inches  apart,  and 
then  guiding  the  main  leader  with  small  wooden  pins  in 
the  direction  of  the  border.  It  offers  something  en- 
tirely new  in  color  and  shape,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  it  is  so  little  in  use. 

A  second  border,  immediately  around  the  flower-bed, 
affording  a  greater  contrast  in  color,  would  be  the  small 
Tom  Thumb  Arbor- vitas — a  very  precious  novelty,  too, 
on  account  of  its  very  dark  foliage. 

At  18,  on  the  northwest  side  of  the  house,  there  would 
be  a  very  favorable  location  for  a  group  of  Rhododendrons 
and  other  so-called  North  American  evergreen  shrubs. 

At  19  may  be  placed  two  single  bushes  of  Calycanthus 
floridus,  or  Sweet-scented  Shrub,  or,  still  better,  two 
large  vases  or  pieces  of  statuary. 

At  21,  a  circle,  to  be  decorated  with  a  Purple  Beech,  or 
a  good  specimen  of  the  Kilmarnock  Willow. 

At  22,  all  along  the  eastern  boundary,  a  row  of  Norway 
Spruces,  Balsam  Firs,  and  American  Arbor- vitae,  in  the 
rear,  planted  at  sufficient,  distance  from  each  other  to 
permit  a  second  row  in  front  of  them  (alternating),  about 
four  or  five  feet  from  the  side  of  the  walk. 

In  this  front  line  ought  to  be  employed  Siberian  Arbor- 
vitae,  Irish  and  Swedish  Junipers,  Golden  Arbor-vitse, 
Upright  Yews,  Retinispom  ericoides  and  Podocarpus. 

At  22  a,  in  the  rear  of  the  play-ground,  there  ought  to 
be  the  following  shrubs,  in  three  rows  :  for  instance,  in 
the  rear,  the  Venetian  Sumac,  Cercis  Siliquastrum,  and 
Cercis  Canadensis,  Double  White  and  Red  Flowering 
Thorns,  American  Mountain  Ash,  etc.,  etc.,  but  no  larger 
trees. 


36  PEACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

In  the  second  row  there  might  be  planted  (alternately) 
the  Purple  Hazel  (or  Filbert),  the  Silver-Bell  (Haksia 
tetraptera),  some  Philadelphia,  Euonymus,  and  Rose  of 
Sharon. 

In  the  third  row,  still  smaller  sorts,  closing  down  to  the 
edging,  such  as  the  Purple  Barberry,  Hypericum  Kalmia- 
num,  Daphne  Mezereum,  Cotoneasters,  Primus  Sinensis, 
and  Prunus  trilola.  Herbaceous  plants,  like  Peonies,  Iris, 
Phloxes,  etc.,  etc.,  maybe  added,  too,  to  great  advantage. 

At  23,  the  group  near  the  front  fence  must  be  stocked 
with  such  shrubs  as  will  prevent  outsiders  from  disturbing 
the  privacy  of  the  place,  but  low  enough  to  allow  the 
inmates  to  see  the  street  from  the  piazza,  or  first  floor. 

The  following  plants  may  best  answer,  viz.  :  Spiraea 
Reevesiifl.  plena,  Spircea  prunifolia,  and  Spircea  callosa, 
Deutziacrenatafl.pleno,  Cratiegus  Pyracantha  (near  each 
gate),  and  in  front  of  these,  towards  the  house,  Hyperi- 
cum Kalmianum,  Deutzia  gracilis,  Spircea  Fortunii, 
and  some  herbaceous  plants.  24,  a  corner  gioup,  ought 
to  be  filled  in  the  rear  with  one  or  two  Cladrastis  tinctoria, 
better  known  in  nurseries  as  Viryilia  lutea,  and  in  front 
of  these  there  should  be  some  five  or  six  ^ffisculus  macro- 
stachya,  a  shrub  of  a  remarkably  fine  effect. 

At  25  and  2G,  the  two  small  groups  could  be  employed 
for  Hydrangeas.  27  and  23  require,  to  hide  the  hen- 
yard,  some  taller  shrubs  of  the  following  sort :  the  Cali- 
fornian  Privet,  some  Lilacs,  and  the  Golden  Elder  (Sam- 
bucus  nigra  aurea. ) 

The  small  border,  29,  may  be  employed  for  some 
espaliers  of  Pears,  Apricots,  or  Medlars. 

30  is  intended  for  flower  beds,  arranged  in  the  most 
simple  way,  and  which  ought  to  be  filled  in  the  fall  with 
Dutch  bulbs  for  the  spring  season,  and  in  summer  with 
fine  selected  bedding  plants,  of  very  distinct  colors,  but 
each  separate  color  in  one  strip ;  or  with  annuals,  like 
Portulaca,  Phlox Drummondii,  Nemophilas,  etc.,  etc. 


DESIGNS   FOR  ORNAMENTAL  GROUNDS.  3? 

At  a,  in  Div.  30,  there  may  be  some  Magnolias,  a 
Cercis  Japonica,  and  one  Berberis  macrophylla  or 
Japonica. 

By  mentioning  exactly  all  the  sorts  of  trees  and  shrubs 
that  I  might  employ,  I  do  not  intend  to  say  that  the  lay- 
ing out  may  be  a  failure  by  employing  other  sorts,  as  cor- 
responding varieties  in  size  and  foliage  will  answer  just 
as  well,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  mentioned  no 
trees  of  large  size,  except  along  the  eastern  boundary 
and  the  play-ground.  Indeed,  of  what  use  would  it  be 
to  employ  Sugar  Maples,  Elms,  Norway  Maples,  and 
Sycamores,  which,  after  a  few  years,  would  cover  up  half 
the  width  of  the  place,  and  leave  no  room  for  good  shrub- 
bery and  flowers  ;  allow  no  sun  in  the  place,  and  even 


Fig.   2.— SECTION   OF   ROAD   WITH   SINGLE   DRAIN. 

prevent  the  turf  from  growing  under  their  shade  ?  It 
would  be  as  sensible  as  to  place  in  a  small  drawing-room 
a  table,  of  which  the  four  corners  would  touch  the  four 
walls. 

In  the  selection  of  the  right  kind  of  plants  is  the  whole 
secret  of  the  art. 

The  walks  in  such  a  regular  garden  must  be  as  well 
graded  as  possible,  and  on  the  same  level  as  the  turf, 
which  ought  not  to  overreach  them  more  than  one  inch 
or  one  inch  and  one-half.  Very  narrow  walks,  unless  the 
grass  is  frequently  clipped,  often  look  like  ditches. 

To  establish  such  walks,  if  there  is  any  drainage  re- 
quired, the  digging  out  of  the  soil  before  stoning  ought 
to  be  as  clearly  defined  and  done  as  well  as  the  dressing 
of  the  top. 

The  best  way  to  dig  them  out  is,  in  general,  foi  single 
drains,  according  to  the  diagram,  figure  2,  and  where 

88236 


33  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

double  drains  are  required,  I  generally  recommend  the 
following  system,  shown  in  figure  3. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  first  diagram  that  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch  represented  in  the  cut  is  an  inclined  plane,  run- 
ning downwards  from  one  side  of  the  walk  toward  the 
opposite  side  of  the  drain,  which  I  figure  here  simply  as  a 
stone  drain.  The  stoning  is  to  be  laid  upright,  and 
never  flat,  on  the  hardened  bottom  of  the  ditch  or  dug- 
out trench ;  if  laid  flat,  the  stones  will  never  bind  to- 
gether, but  if  upright,  they  will  soon  become  tight  by  the 
intrusion  of  the  gravel  that  has  to  be  put  on  top  of  them. 

The  depth  of  the  trench  depends  very  much  on  the 
quality  of  the  subsoil,  and  has  to  be  regulated  by  it,  and 
so  with  the  ditch  for  the  drains. 

Such  walks  also  depend  very  much  on  the  quality  of 


Fig.   3.— SECTION  OF  ROAD  WITH    DOUBLE  DRAINS. 

the  soil,  and  very  often,  indeed  generally,  on  the  facility 
of  procuring  the  materials. 

In  some  places  I  have  seen  walks  and  roads  made  by 
simply  scratching  off  three  or  four  inches  of  light  top  soil, 
beneath  which  was  gravel  several  feet  deep.  Such  a  road 
may  be  dry,  but  is  very  noisy,  tiresome,  and  movable. 

In  other  instances  I  have  seen  walks  made  by  opening 
ditches  over  four  feet  deep,  only  for  the  sake  of  burying 
rocks  and  saving  the  soil  found  in  digging ;  these  form 
very  fine  drains,  and  help  to  clear  the  land  of  boulders 
and  rocks,  as  is  the  case  on  top  of  Orange  Mountain,  N.  J. 

The  second  diagram  (figure  3)  shows  the  section  of  a 
walk  or  drive  requiring  more  drainage.  The  bottom, 
between  the  two  drain  ditches,  forms  a  curving  line,  on 
which,  if  well  placed,  the  stones  will  soon  form  an  arch, 
and  give  the  road  all  the  qualities  required. 


DESIGNS   FOR   ORNAMENTAL   GROUNDS.  39 

The  depth  here  is  not  as  much  regulated  by  the  quality 
of  the  soil  as  by  the  width  of  the  drive  or  roads.  The 
more  convexity  given  the  bottom,  the  better  for  the  ab- 
sorption of  the  water  by  the  drain,  which  ought  to  be  at 
least  twelve  inches  deeper  than  the  extremity  of  the  curve, 
whilst  the  top  of  the  curve  must  remain  at  least  six  inches 
below  the  top  of  the  road  or  drive. 

Frequent  raking,  to  remove  the  larger  gravel  or  pebbles, 
and  more  frequent  rolling  during  damp  weather,  are 
necessary  for  new  walks. 

If  good  clay  is  at  hand,  a  thin  coat  of  it  may  be  put 
between  the  coarse  and  the  fine  gravel  on  top. 

Gutters  made  of  flagstone,  or  simply  paved,  will  b<, 
needed  only  where  there  is  a  great  descent  and  a  large 
accumulation  of  water  above,  or  sometimes  even  where 
the  ground  is  very  light  and  sandy,  although  the  surface 
may  slope  but  very  little. 

In  uneven  grounds,  drives  and  walks  are  to  be  made  in 
the  same  manner,  but  their  finish  and  beauty  will  never 
depend  upon  themselves,  nor  upon  the  way  in  which  they 
are  laid  down.  An  additional,  correct  grading  of  the 
grounds,  right  and  left,  so  as  to  bring  the  sod  everywhere 
at  equal  height  over  the  gravel,  and  then  a  careful  grad- 
ing of  the  grounds  three,  four  to  six  feet  off  the  margin, 
where  the  soil  rises  or  falls,  is  indispensable  in  such  cases 
to  make  a  finished  drive. 

The  staking  out  of  such  uneven  walks,  and  the  regu- 
lar distribution  of  the  grading,  to  avoid  unsightly  ups 
and  downs,  is  a  matter  of  taste  and  practice,  ruled  by  the 
shape  of  the  land  and  the  direction  of  the  walks. 

DESIGN  FOR  A   FLOWER  GARDEN. 

We  give  in  figure  4  a  design  for  a  regular  flower 
garden,  intended  for  the  ornamenting  of  the  foot  of  a 
terrace,  built  in  front  of  a  large  villa. 


40 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


The  terrace  is  intended  to  be  of  a  heavy  stone  work, 
about  three  feet  above  the  ground,  with  a  projection  in 


Fig.  4.— DESIGN  FOR   A  FLOWER  GARDEN. 


the  middle  and  two  steps  on  each  side,  leading  to  the 
mam  walks  of  the  flower  garden. 

^  Such  an  arrangement,  often  seen  in  English  villas  or 
m  English  designs,  belongs  only  to  large  pleasure  .Tonnds, 
and  may  be  considered  as  the  real  "dress  Around  " 


DESIGNS   FOR   ORNAMENTAL   GROUNDS.  41 

This  design  has  been  expressly  made  with  the  view  of 
keeping  in  order  cheaply. 

The  lawn,  or  what  is  to  be  kept  in  sod,  is  as  much  as 
possible  in  regular  straight  lines,  easily  mowed  with  some 
of  the  patent  lawn  mowers. 

The  walks  are  wide,  as,  starting  from  the  bottom  of  the 
terrace,  they  will  be  overlooked  the  whole  length  from  the 
top,  and  would  appear  scanty  if  not  of  liberal  dimensions. 

The  place  is  intended  to  be  kept  as  private  as  possible — 
a  sort  of  open-air  saloon — by  a  belt  of  selected  shrubbery, 
and  sbade  trees  in  its  rear. 

At  1,  there  are  seats  indicated  in  several  recesses  cut 
into  the  shrubs,  the  seats  to  be  of  heavy  timber,  as  stone 
would  be  rather  too  cool,  and  iron  or  rustic  work  not 
looking  architectural  enough. 

At  2,  there  are  pedestals  for  pieces  of  statuary,  or  vases 
or  large  specimen  plants  in  painted  boxes. 

At  3,  4  and  6,  groups  of  Roses,  bedding-out  plants  of 
broad,  showy  foliage,  or  flowering  shrubs,  such  as  Hydran- 
geas, which  continue  long  in  bloom. 

At  5,  the  center  piece,  there  is  a  large  flower  bed  for 
Scarbt  Geraniums,  Feverfew,  etc.,  surrounded  by  a  bor- 
der of  Irish  Ivy,  kept  in  line,  so  as  not  to  exceed  twelve 
to  eighteen  inches  in  width. 

Such  borders  of  Ivy,  if  employed  in  the  right  place,  and 
well  kept  in  order,  are  a  magnificent  ornament  to  a  gar- 
den, and,  according  to  their  location,  may  be  kept  three 
and  four  feet  wide.  A  very  little  covering  in  winter  will 
keep  the  foliage,  of  the  right  sort,  in  very  good  order. 

In  the  large  squares,  plainly  sodded,  that  are  in  the  gar- 
dens  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries,  at  Paris,  there  is 
no  other  ornament  but  such  borders  of  broad-leaved  Ivy, 
established  at  three  to  four  feet  from  the  walks,  and  left 
running  about  two  to  three  feet  wide  ;  and  they  make, 
with  the  dark  green  against  the  lighter  turf,  a  most 
agreeable  contrast. 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


DESIGNS  FOB  ORNAMENTAL  GROUNDS.  43 

At  7,  on  the  floor  of  the  terrace,  and  protected  bj  the 


Fig.  6.— DESIGN  FOR  A  FLOWER  BED  IN  A  WALK.— (Seepage  45.) 

shade  of  the  balustrade,  there  will  be  a  very  good  location 
for  hardy  Rhododendrons,  and  similar  shrubs. 

DESIGN   FOR   A   PARTERRE. 

The  design   (figure  5)  represents  a  parterre  to  be 


Fig.  7.— DESIGN  FOR  A  FLOWER  BED  IN  A  WALK.— (See  pofft  46.) 

established  in  front  of  a  large  greenhouse,  or  conservatory, 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


and  bringing  together,  in  one  single  spot,  all  the  flowei 
beds  generally  scattered  over  the  lawn,  on  a  large  place. 
For  privacy,  it  is  surrounded  by  a  belt  of  flowering  shrubs. 
Two  principal  flower  beds,  at  1  and  2,  are  intended  to 
be  surrounded  by  a  small  evergreen  border,  kept  for  itself, 


Fig.    8.— FLOWEK  BEDS  AT  THB  JtTWCTIOW  OP   WALKS.— (&X page  46.) 

ana.  not  to  be  considered  as  an  edging ;  small  edging-box 
might  answer  best. 

At  3,  there  are  recesses  for  statuary,  behind  which  the 
foliage  ought  to  be  of  the  darkest  kind,  to  contrast  with 
the  white  statuary,  and  make  that  conspicuous. 

At  4,  similar  recesses  for  seats  of  heavy  timber. 


DESIGNS   FOB   ORNAMENTAL   GROUNDS. 


45 


At  5,  in  front  of  the  greenhouse,  alternating  with  the 
flower  beds,  are  simple,  upright  growing  evergreens,  sym- 
metrically planted,  such  as  Irish  and  Swedish  Junipers, 
Taxus  erecta,  Podocarpus  Japonica,  Retimspora,  etc. 

At  6,    single  specimens  of  shrubs  of  medium  size. 


Fig.   9.— FLOWER   BEDS  AT  THE   TERMINUS  OF  A  WALK. 

remarkable  for  their  flowers,  fragrance,  or  fine  foliage ; 
for  example,  Deutzia  crenata  ftore  pleno,  Pyrus  Japonica, 
Cratagus  Pyracantha,  or  the  Prunus  triloba. 

FLOWER    BEDS    IN   WALKS,    OR   AT  JUNCTONS   OF   WALKS. 

Figure  6  (p.  43),  and  the  three  following  illustrations, 
are  designs  for  introducing  ornamental  planting  where 


46  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

opportunity  offers  along  the  course  of  a  walk.  In  fig- 
ure 6,  the  walk  divides  and  passes  each  side  of  a  bed  of 
choice  shrubbery,  while  the  opposite  sides  of  the  walk  are 
planted  with  some  of  the  select  shrubs  already  named,  or 
others.  By  the  judicious  use  of  flowering  shrubs,  and 
the  low-growing  evergreens,  very  fine  effects  may  be  pro- 
duced. In  figure  7,  is  a  similar  but  more  elaborate  plan, 
which  allows  of  the  introduction  of  flowers  in  masses  ; 
such  an  arrangement  would  be  very  appropriate  for  a 
Kose  garden.  In  figure  8,  we  have  a  design  for  ornament- 
ing the  point  at  which  two  walks  unite  at  right  angles. 
The  planting  may  be  of  Ivy,  Trailing  Juniper,  and  other 
low-growing  evergreens,  upon  a  ground-work  of  well- 
kept  grass,  or  flowers  may  be  introduced.  In  figure  9, 
we  have  a  bit  of  ornamental  flower  garden  at  the  terminus 
of  a  walk.  What  has  been  said  of  the  selection  of  shrubs, 
etc.,  in  describing  the  larger  designs,  will  be  a  sufficient 
guide  in  carrying  out  these  smaller  plans. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
PLANTING   OF  FLOWER  BEDS. 

Much  difference  prevails  in  the  modes  of  planting 
flower  beds,  some  holding  to  the  promiscuous  intersper- 
sion  of  the  different  plants,  others  to  the  ribbon  or  carpet 
style  of  planting,  now  so  general  in  Europe.  If  the  pro- 
miscuous system  is  adopted,  care  should  be  taken  to  dispose 
the  plants  in  the  beds  so  that  the  tallest  plants  will  be  at 
the  back  of  the  bed,  if  the  border  is  against  a  wall  or 
background  of  shrubbery,  the  others  gradating  to  the 
front,  according  to  height.  In  open  beds,  on  the  lawn, 
the  tallest  should  be  at  the  centre,  the  others  grading 


PLANTING   OF   FLOWER   BEDS.  47 

down  to  the  front,  on  all  sides,  interspersing  the  colors 
so  as  to  form  the  most  agreeable  contrast  in  shades.  But, 
for  grand  effect,  nothing,  in  our  estimation,  can  ever  be 
produced  in  promiscuous  planting  to  equal  that  obtained 
by  planting  in  masses  or  in  ribbon  lines.  In  the  grounds 
of  the  Crystal  Palace,  near  London,  and  at  the  Jardin 
des  Flantes,  in  Paris,  wonderful  specimens  of  this  mode 
of  planting  are  to  be  seen.  The  lawns  are  cut  so  as  to 
resemble  rich  green  velvet ;  on  these  the  flower  beds  are 
laid  out  in  every  style  that  art  can  conceive  ;  some  are 
planted  in  masses  of  blue,  scarlet,  yellow,  crimson,  white, 
etc.,  separate  beds  of  each,  harmoniously  blended  on  the 
carpeting  of  green.  Then,  again,  the  ribbon  style  is 
used  in  the  large  beds,  in  forms  so  various  that  allusion 
can  here  be  made  to  only  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous. 
In  a  circular  bed,  say  of  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  the  first 
line  towards  the  grass  is  blue  Lobelia,  attaining  a  height 
of  six  inches ;  next  comes  the  famous  Mrs.  Pollock  Ger- 
anium, occupying  a  space  one  foot  and  one-half  wide  and 
nine  inches  high,  with  its  gorgeous  leaves  and  flowers ; 
then,  against  that,  is  a  line  of  Mountain  of  Snow  Gera- 
nium, with  its  silvery  white  foliage  and  scarlet  flowers, 
backed  by  the  maroon-colored  Coleus  Verschaffeltii ;  the 
center  being  a  mound  of  scarlet  Salvia.  Another  style  is  a 
fringe  for  the  front,  of  the  fern-like,  white-leaved  Centau* 
rea  gymnocarpa  ;  back  of  that  is  the  Crystal  Palace  Scar* 
let  Geranium  ;  then  Phalaris  arundinacea  picta,  a  recent 
style  of  Ribbon  Grass  ;  next,  Coleus  Verschaffeltii,  and,  in 
the  center,  a  clump  of  Cannas,  or  Pampas  Grass. 

During  a  visit  to  Europe  in  1872,  I  went  to  the  cele- 
brated Battersea  Park,  the  most  interesting,  in  a  horti- 
cultural view,  of  the  many  parks  in  the  neighborhood  of 
London.  A  feature  peculiar  to  Battersea  Park  is  the 
subtropical  and  alpine  planting,  both  of  which,  as  here 
done,  were  to  us  a  novel  feature  in  landscape  gardening. 
It  was  interesting  to  see  how  common  and  rough  looking 


48 


PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 


plants  were  made  to  produce  such  wonderful  effects  when 
grouped  and  contrasted  in  the  subtropical  arrangement. 
The  plants  were  mainly  Cannas,  Japanese  Maize  (striped), 
Wigandias,  Bocconias,  Solauums  and  many  of  the  tall- 
growing  sorts  of  Amaranths.  These  were  grouped  on 
beds  of  every  conceivable  form,  some  clearly  denned  in 


«  I 

I  • 

Fig.    10. — A   CARPET  BED. 

1.  Echeveria  Secunda.  4.  Echeveria  Extensa. 

2.  Sempervivum  Californicum.  ft.  Yellow  Alternanthera. 

3.  Echeveria  Rosea.  6.  Yellow  Alternanthera. 

7.  Crimson  Alternanthera. 

the  broad  lawn,  some  skirting  the  edge  of  a  clump  of 
trees,  others  planted  in  and  among  the  trees  and  shrub- 
bery as  undergrowth,  giving  the  impression,  when  look- 
ing at  it  under  the  roofy  shade  of  trees,  that  you  were 
viewing  an  undergrowth  of  the  tropics  rather  than  a  piece 


PLANTING   OF   FLOWEU   BEDS.  49 


(T(  .  V---. 

8       *        i          &  I 

•  i  /  • 


1  \ 


Fig.    11.  —  DESIGN  FOR  BED. 

1.  Scarlet  Salvia.  2.  Coleus  Verschaffeltii. 

All  lines  in  the  figure  to  be  edged  with  Yellow  Coleus,  or  reversed 

if  so  desired. 


Fig.   12.—  DESIGN  FOE  BED. 

1.  Alternanthera,  Crimson.  3.  Lobelia,  Blue. 

2.  Alternanthera,  Yellow.  4.  Coleue,  Golden. 

5.  Achyranthes,  Crimson. 
The  Coleus  and  Achyranthes  to  be  pinched  low. 


50  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

of  the  most  artistical  planting  of  an  English  park.  One 
particular  spot,  which  will  not  soon  be  forgotten,  was  a 
ravine  of  considerable  extent,  well  shaded  by  tall  trees, 
where  were  planted  immense  plants  of  tree  ferns,  the 

\\ 
— -i 

jr    .. .. 


\     x..y     /\   ,x.- 

\.  V..  '••'  '       v     a 


-^       '    }  />•- 

\\  v..y  / 

\\   •  // 

\  »*.        >•'  / 


\x </ 


Fig.  13.— DESIGN  FOB  A  BED. 

4.  Coleus,  VerschaffeltlL 

-  .  5.  Coleus  Black. 

3.  Coleus,  Golden.  6.  Coleus,  Firebrand. 

Or  3,  4,  5  and  6  can  be  alternations  of  crimson  and  yellow 
Alternantheras  if  desired. 

stems  covered  with  Lycopodium,  so  exactly  as  to  resem- 
ble what  would  be  their  condition  in  nature.  Behind 
these  and  against  the  blue  sky  stood  out  strongly  some 
gigantic  Palms,  so  that  we  had  here  again  a  glimpse  of 
what  an  Australian  or  Indian  forest  might  be.  In 


PLANTING   OF  FLOWER  BEDS. 
»»*'."*••  -'*.-.J 

/;'    G    \\        \:     *• 

"r*  ( f  r  Vrr 


--] 


'"V 


. 

•:*"•'''  \\ 


;) 


' 
" 


;.  \ 


51 


Fig.  14.— DESIGN  FOB  BED. 

?..  Gravel  Walk.  6.  Double  Alyssum  Tom  ThumV 

2.  Grass.  7.  Geranium,  Silver  Leaf. 

3.  Double  Alyssum  Tom  Thumb.  8.  Geranium,  Happy  Thought 

4.  Double  Alyssum  Tom  Thumb.  9.  Centauria  Gymnocarpa. 

5.  Double  Alyseum  Torn  Thumb,  10.  Scarlet  Geranium, 


52  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

direct  contrast  to  these  was  a  hill,  a  miniature  Alp, 
planted  from  base  to  nearly  the  summit  with  alpine 
plants  of  the  rarest  kinds,  among  which  were  largely  in- 
terspersed Sedums,  Sempervivums,  and  other  succulents, 
in  rarity  and  variety  sufficient  to  give  joy  to  a  botanist's 
heart.  On  the  peaks  and  in  the  crevices  of  this  little 
hill,  was  planted  closely  one  of  the  most  common  native 
plants  of  Britain,  Antennaria  dioica,  one  of  the  Ever- 
lastings, having  white  foliage,  and  this  plant  easily  con- 
veyed the  impression  of  snow  on  the  hill-tops  and  in  its 
gullies.  Altogether,  on  this  little  mound  of  half  an  acre, 
were  planted  probably  three  hundred  distinct  species. 

Then  from  this  mound  of  botanical  interest,  the  first 
turn  brought  us  to  a  very  different  style  of  planting — the 
massing  or  ribbon  style,  or  what  would  be  more  appro- 
priately (as  it  is  done  here)  called  the  "carpet  style," 
for  it  often  resembles  just  such  patterns  as  would  make  a 
beautiful  carpet.  This  style  is  meeting  now  with  much 
opposition  from  Mr.  Kobinson,  editor  of  the  "  Garden," 
and  many  others  ;  but  whatever  may  be  objectionable  to 
those  whose  conceptions  of  gardening  are  beyond  this 
rectangular  system,  there  is  no  denying  the  pleasure  that 
it  gives  to  the  masses— as  was  apparent  by  the  crowds 
admiring  those  flower  beds  at  Battersea  Park,  many 
persons  being  engaged  in  sketching  the  plans  and  taking 
notes  of  the  varieties  used  to  produce  the  effect.  This 
Park  of  Battersea  contains  only  two  hundred  acres.  Its 
natural  beauties  are  far  inferior  to  either  our  Central,  of 
New  York,  or  Prospect  Park,  of  Brooklyn  ;  but  its  judi- 
cious system  of  planting,  which  gives  novelty  and  fresh- 
ness at  every  turn,  conveys  to  the  visitor  a  lasting 
impression  of  pleasure  that  the  plain,  monotonous 
shrubbery  and  lawn  of  our  New  York  parks  can  never 
give.  The  public  parks  in  Britain  or  Ireland  are  the 
best  schools  of  taste  in  floriculture  the  people  have  to 
model  from ;  and  so  it  should  be  with  us,  but  with  the 


PLANTING  OF  FLOWER  BEDS.  53 

few  extremely  limited  attempts  that  have  been  made  at 
the  Central  Park,  New  York,  the  past  few  years,  there 
has  been  no  ornamental  planting  of  a  public  character  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York.  Some  fine  examples  of  this 


%'v\    (l    6  )/ 

>>:v^.-'>    > 


Flg.  15. — DESIGN  FOR  BED. 

1.  Coleus  Verschaffeltii.  5.  Achyranthes,  Maroon. 

2.  Stevia  Variegata.  6.  Coleus,  Black. 

3.  Coleus,  Firebrand.  7.  Coleus,  Golden  Bedder. 

4.  Stevia  Variegata.  8.  Achyranthes,  Crimson. 

All  kept  pinched  even. 

kind  of  gardening  may  be  seen  in  the  public  parks  in 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  Chicago,  111.  ;  Allegheny  City  and 
Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Boston,  Mass.,  and  even  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  where  the  effects  of  massing  may  be  studied  to 
advantage.  But  even  as  we  write  (1886),  neither  in 
Central  Park,  in  New  York  City,  or  in  Prospect  Park, 


54  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Brooklyn,  has  there  been  anything  done  at  all  to  compare 
with  that  done  in  the  far  less  imposing  parks  in  the  cities 
already  named. 

The  designs  on  the  preceding  pages  for  massing  in 
colors,  from  the  "  Book  of  Plans,"  recently  issued  by  Geo. 
A.  Solly  &  Son,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  will  be  found  useful. 
Of  course,  there  is  nothing  arbitrary  in  the  use  of  the 
different  plants  here  recommended  to  produce  effects;  that 
is  entirely  a  matter  of  taste  and  judgment  in  the  oper- 
ator. The  distance  apart  in  which  plants  should  be  set 
for  effect  varies  with  the  kind  and  size  of  the  plants. 
Coleus,  Achyranthes,  Geraniums  and  the  other  strong- 
growing  kinds  should  be  set  from  ten  to  twelve  inches 
apart  each  way,  while  Lobelias,  Echeverias,  Alyssum, 
Alternantheras,  and  all  low-growing  plants,  should  not 
be  set  wider  than  five  or  six  inches  to  produce  the  best 
effects. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
SOILS  FOR  POTTING. 

I  rarely  pick  up  a  work  on  floriculture  but  the  matter 
of  soils  is  treated  of  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  perfectly  be- 
wildering to  amateurs,  if  not  also  to  professional  florists. 
One  authority  gives  a  table  of  not  less  than  nineteen  sorts! 
Whether  these  authorities  practice  as  they  preach  is  very. 
questionable  ;  some  of  them  I  know  do  not,  but  why  they 
should  thus  write  and  mystify  those  they  attempt  to 
teach,  can  only  be  ascribed  to  a  desire  to  impress  their 
readers  with  the  profundity  of  their  knowledge  on  such 
subjects.  Now,  what  is  the  effect  of  such  instructions  ? 
Our  amateur  cultivators  are  disheartened,  as  such  combi- 
nations of  soils  are  to  them  perfectly  impracticable.  The 


SOILS  FOR  POTTING.  55 

private  gardener,  perhaps,  falls  back  on  his  employer, 
and  ascribes  the  unhealthy  condition  of  his  plants  to  the 
effect  of  his  not  being  able  to  procure  such  and  such  soil, 
which,  he  says,  is  necessary  to  some  class  of  plants,  and 
excuses  his  failures  thereby.  The  young  florist,  beginning 
business  in  some  country  town,  with  restricted  means, 
and  with  limited  knowledge  of  what  he  is  undertaking, 
looks  upon  this  august  authority  in  despair,  and  his  heart 
sinks  within  him  when  he  knows  that  no  silver  sand  ia 
within  a  thousand  miles  of  him,  and  he  is  told,  without 
qualification,  that  it  is  necessary  for  his  propagating 
bench,  or  as  an  ingredient  in  his  potting  soils.  He  begins 
without  it,  and  as  he  will  possibly  make  some  failures, 
these  failures  are  laid  at  the  door  of  the  soil  or  sand 
that  he  has  been  obliged  to  use,  while  the  chances  are, 
twenty  to  one,  that  they  were  not.  Not  the  least  satis- 
faction I  have  in  writing  this  book  is,  that  of  being  able 
to  attempt  the  simplification  of  many  of  our  operations 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  put  the  means  of  doing  the  work 
within  the  reach  of  every  one.  Not  the  least  simple  of 
these  operations  is  the  preparation  of  our  potting  soil. 
We  have,  we  may  say,  only  one  heap — a  big  one  at  that — 
but  it  contains  only  two  ingredients,  rotted  sods,  from  a 
loamy  pasture,  and  rotted  refuse  hops  from  the  breweries, 
or,  in  lieu,  rotted  cow  or  horse  manure,  in  about  the  pro- 
portion of  two  of  the  sods  to  one  of  the  hops  or  manure. 
The  sods  are  cut  during  the  spring  or  summer,  and  laid, 
with  grassy  sides  together,  so  as  to  decompose,  and  the 
heap  is  repeatedly  turned  until  it  becomes  friable.  The 
rotted  refuse  hops  (one  year  old),  or  rotted  manure,  is 
then  added,  either  at  once  or  when  the  soil  is  wanted  for 
potting.  For  small  pots — from  two  to  four  inches — we 
run  it  through  a  sieve  of  one-half  inch  meshes,  which 
thoroughly  incorporates  the  parts  ;  for  larger  pots,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  run  it  through  a  sieve,  unless,  perhaps, 
for  the  sake  of  thoroughly  mixing,  it  may  be  quicker  to 


56  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

run  it  through  a  screen  or  sieve  with  a  one  or  one  and  a 
half  inch  mesh.  If  the  loam  is  rather  clayey,  we  use 
more  hops  or  manure  ;  if  rather  sandy,  less  than  the  pro- 
portion named.  From  this  mould-heap  the  soil  is  taken 
from  which  all  our  plants  are  grown  and  flowered ;  we 
make  no  exceptions,  unless  in  the  case  of  the  few  fine- 
rooting  plants,  such  as  Heaths,  Ferns,  Gloxinias,  Cala- 
diums,  Azaleas,  Epacris,  etc.  In  potting  these,  we  use 
about  two-thirds  of  the  decayed  refuse  hops  to  one  of 
loam  ;  if  the  hops  are  not  attainable,  leaf  mould  from  the 
woods  will  do,  in  lieu  of  the  hops,  for  this  purpose.  Our 
general  mould-heap  supplies  the  soil,  alike  for  Bouvar% 
dias,  Begonias,  Carnations,  Camellias,  Chrysanthemums, 
Daphnes,  Dracenas,  Dahlias,  Fuchsias,  Gazanias,  Garde- 
nias, Geraniums,  Hyacinths,  Liliums,  Lan tanas, Petunias, 
Pansies,  Roses,  Tuberoses,  Violets,  Verbenas,  etc.,  etc. 
Whether  plants  show  vigorous  growth  under  this  univer- 
sal application  of  soil  to  their  varied  natures,  our  thou- 
sands of  patrons,  who  will  be  readers  of  this  book,  can 
attest.  If  any  of  the  disciples  of  the  old  school  doubt  this, 
let  them  come  and  have  ocular  evidence  of  the  fact. 
Our  location  is  within  half  an  hour's  walk  (or  fifteen  min- 
utes' ride)  of  the  city  of  New  York  ;  our.  gates  and  doors 
are  always  open  ;  visitors  are  free  to  go  and  examine  as 
they  choose.  They  will  see  our  mould  heap  looming  up 
like  a  miniature  mountain  ;  they  will  see  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  plants,  natives  of  every  clime,  deriving  their 
luxuriant  growth  from  this  one  source.  While  ignoring 
the  necessity  of  special  varieties  of  soil'for  special  families 
of  plants,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  plants  may  not  be 
grown  as  well  by  the  use  of  such  compounds  as  by  ours  ; 
but  I  claim  that,  as  a  whole,  they  can  be  grown  no  better, 
and  that  the  advice  to  use  these  combinations  is  bewil- 
dering to  the  amateur,  or  inexperienced  gardener,  trouble- 
some in  its  practice,  and  of  no  benefit  whatever  in  its 
results.  In  proof  of  this,  I  have,  on  many  occasions,  re- 


TEMPERATURE  AHD  MOISTURE.  5? 

ceived  all  kinds  of  plants  from  a  dozen  different  growers 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  hardly  two  of  whom  use 
the  same  soil,  but  all  grow  them  well.  So  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  York,  where  the  soil  is  varied  at  the  different 
points,  as  much  as  soil  can  be  ;  yet  we  see  growers  using 
very  different  compounds  with  equally  good  results,  show- 
ing, as  has  long  ago  been  satisfactory  to  me,  that  special 
soils  have  less  to  do  with  the  healthy  growth  of  plants  than 
the  proper  application  of  temperature  and  moisture.  In 
cities  having  paved  streets,  we  find  the  sweepings  to  be 
a  most  valuable  ingredient,  which  may  be  used  to  advan- 
tage in  lieu  of  refuse  hops,  manure  or  leaf -mould. 


CHAPTER    X. 
TEMPERATURE  AND  MOISTURE. 

Many  young  gardeners  and  amateurs  flounder  befogged; 
attributing  failure  of  crops  in  the  garden,  or  want  of 
health  of  plants  in  the  greenhouse,  to  bad  seeds,  uncon- 
genial soil  or  fertilizers,  when  it  is  much  oftener  the  case 
that  the  cause  is  of  a  totally  different  nature,  and  entirely 
within  their  control.  A  temperature  at  which  seeds  are 
sown  and  plants  grown  must  be  congenial  to  the  nature 
of  the  kind,  else  success  cannot  follow.  In  a  temperature 
at  which  a  Porfculaca  will  vigorously  germinate,  a  Pansy 
seed  would  lie  dormant,  or,  at  least,  show  a  sickly  exist- 
ence, and  vice  versa.  Nearly  half  of  the  Corn  and  Lima 
Beans  sown  annually,  perish  by  being  sown  from  two  to 
three  weeks  too  early,  by  the  impatience  of  our  embryo 
horticulturists.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cold-blooded 
Carrot  or  Turnip  seed  all  but  refuse  to  germinate  in  the 
sultry  days  of  July.  Seeds  of  Calceolarias,  Cinerarias 
and  Chinese  Primroses  will  germinate  more  freely  if  sown 


58  PRACTICAL   FLOBICULTUKE. 

in  greenhouse  or  frame  during  the  cool  months  of  March, 
April  or  May,  in  our  climate,  than  if  delayed  until  June 
or  July,  the  time  it  is  usually  done  in  the  colder  climate 
of  England.  It  has  been  our  own  practice  for  years  to 
sow  in  these  months  ;  but  if  by  chance  it  has  been  omitted, 
we  prefer  to  delay  sowing  till  September,  rather  than  to 
sow  in  midsummer.  Many  failures  are  attributable  to 
want  of  knowledge  of  this  fact,  and  they  are,  without 
question,  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  seedsman. 

The  same  necessity  of  accommodating  the  temperature 
to  the  nature  of  a  matured  plant,  exists  even  to  a  greater 
extent,  than  it  does  with  the  seed  ;  and  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  want  of  success  in  cultivating  plants  under  glass 
is,  want  of  knowledge  of  the  proper  temperature,  or  from 
carelessness  in  keeping  a  temperature  unsuited  to  the 
growth  of  the  plants.  In  ordinary  greenhouse  collections, 
the  fault  is  oftener  in  the  temperature  being  kept  too  high 
than  too  low,  for  it  is  much  easier,  requiring  far  less 
watchfulness  by  the  person  in  charge,  to  keep  up  a  high 
temperature.  The  injury  done  by  this  is  gradual,  and 
will  not,  like  the  action  of  frost  on  the  plants,  show  in  the 
morning.  In  consequence  of  this,  we  often  see  the  green- 
house containing  Camellias,  Azaleas,  Pelargoniums,  Oar- 
nations,  etc.,  etc.,  sweltering  in  midwinter  under  a 
continued  night  temperature  of  sixty-five  degrees,  when 
their  nature  demands  fifteen  degrees  lower. 

We  too  often  see  collections  of  hot-house  and  green- 
house plants  intermingled,  and  attempts  made  to  grow 
them  together,  which  must  result  in  failure  to  one  or 
the  other.  The  temperature  to  grow,  in  healthy  con- 
dition, Coleus,  Bouvardia,or  Poinsettia  (hot-house  plants), 
would  not  be  likely  to  maintain  Verbenas,  Carnations,  or 
Geraniums,  long  in  a  healthy  state.  The  same  rules  fol- 
low as  to  the  propagating  house,  showing  the  necessity, 
even  in  a  greater  degree,  of  observing  the  requirements 
of  their  different  natures.  Coleus,  Bouvardia,  Begonia, 


TEMPERATURE   All-    MOISTURE.  59 

and  Lantana,  root  in  a  bottom  heat  of  seventy-five  de- 
grees, with  atmospheric  temperature  of  sixty-five  degrees, 
in  tea  days  ;  at  twenty  degrees  lower  they  will  not  root 
at  all,  but  will  perish.  Although  cuttings  and  plants  of 
a  more  hardy  nature  will  root  in  some  conditions  of  growth 
at  this  temperature,  yet  we  prefer,  to  insure  plants  of 
vigorous  health,  that  Verbenas,  Carnations,  Geraniums, 
Roses,  etc.,  be  rooted  in  a  temperature  at  least  ten  de- 
grees lower,  both  in  bottom  heat  and  temperature  of  the 
house. 

The  subject  is  one  that  relates  to  so  many  varieties  and 
different  conditions  of  organization  at  the  different  seasons 
of  growth,  that  it  is  impossible  to  convey  to  the  inexperi- 
enced what  these  varieties  and  conditions  are  ;  but  my 
object  is  to  impress  upon  young  or  inexperienced  readers 
what  I  have  long  believed  to  be  an  important  truth — that 
the  supplying  the  proper  conditions  of  temperature  to 
plants  under  glass,  according  to  their  different  natures 
and  conditions,  has  as  much,  or  more,  to  do  with  their 
welfare,  than  any  other  cause  ;  and  that  often  when  ascrib- 
ing the  unhealthy  state  of  a  plant  to  uncongenial  soil  or 
defective  drainage,  or  tha  "  damping  off  "  of  some  favorite 
cutting,  to  the  way  it  was  cut,  or  the  sand  in  which  it 
was  put,  the  true  and  sole  cause  of  the  failure  was 
nothing  more  than  condemning  the  plant  or  the  cutting 
to  an  atmosphere  uncongenial  to  its  nature. 

Thus  far,  we  mainly  allude  to  temperature.  Serious 
injury  is  often  done  to  plants  from  a  want  of,  or  excess  of, 
moisture.  The  old  gardener  with  whom  my  first  essay  in 
gardening  was  made,  used  to  define  the  difference  in  dry- 
ness  in  plants  as  "  dry  "  and  "  killing  dry  "  "  dry  "  was 
the  proper  condition  that  the  plant  should  be  in,  when 
water  was  applied,  the  surface  indicating  dryness  by  be- 
coming lighter,  but  no  flagging  or  wilting  ;  but  woe 
betide  the  unfortunate  that  allowed  a  plant  in  charge  to 
become  in  the  condition  of  "killing  dry;"  this,  in  his 


GO  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

eye,  was  an  unpardonable  offence.  "  Killing  dry  "  was,  to 
some  extent,  really  killing,  in  such  a  collection  as  we  grew, 
which  consisted  largely  of  Cape  Heaths,  Epacris,  Azaleas, 
and  other  hard-wooded  plants,  which  are  easily  killed 
outright  by  allowing  their  tender,  thread-like  rootlets  to 
become  dry ;  unlike  soft-wooded  plants,  such  as  Gerani- 
ums, Fuchsias,  or  Roses,  they  have  less  recuperative  pow- 
ers, so  that  a  "  dry"  that  would  kill  a  Heath  or  Azalea 
would  have  only  the  effect  to  stagnate  the  growth  of  a  Ger- 
anium, and  bring  the  tell-tale  yellow  leaves  that  are  certain 
to  follow  whenever  such  plants  have  suffered  for  a  lack  or 
excess  of  moisture.  Although  the  effect  of  drying  is,  for 
the  time  being  perhaps,  less  marked  in  a  hard-wooded 
plant  than  in  a  soft-wooded  one,  yet  the  ultimate  effect 
is  much  more  fatal.  To  the  unpractised  eye,  a  Heath  or 
Azalea  that  has  been  injured  by  drouth  may  appear  all 
right,  while  it  has  gone  beyond  recovery.  The  old  gardener 
before  alluded  to  used  to  make  his  dead  Heaths  do  excel- 
lent service  in  assisting  him  in  some  severe  jokes  played 
on  his  less  experienced  brethren.  Specimen  plants  of 
Heaths  were  scarce,  and,  in  some  sorts,  very  valuable,  and 
if  he  succeeded  in  making  a  present  of  one  of  these  dead 
plants  to  one  of  his  less-knowing  friends,  it  used  to  keep 
him  in  good  humor  for  a  week. 

No  plant  should  ever  be  allowed  to  flag  or  wilt  for  want 
of  moisture,  neither  should  it  be  watered  until  the  neces- 
sity for  water  is  shown  by  the  whitening  of  the  surface 
of  the  soil,  particularly  if  in  dull  weather,  or  if  the  green- 
house is  kept  at  a  low  temperature.  As  a  rule,  with 
greenhouse  plants  kept  in  a  night  temperature  of  forty- 
five  degrees,  with  a  day  temperature  of  sixty  degrees, 
watering  twice  a  week  from  December  to  March  will 
generally  be  sufficient  ;  on  the  approach  of  clear  weather, 
with  higher  temperature  in  April  and  May,  they  will  re- 
quire daily  attention. 

Our  practice  is  to  water  during  winter  with  the  common 


TEMPERATURE   AND    MOISTURE.  01 

rose  watering  pots,  giving  the  plants  water  sparingly,  or 
otherwise,  as  required.  Bat  as  spring  opens,  we  go  at 
the  operation  more  expeditiously,  using  a  one  and  a  half 
inch  hose,  through  which  the  water  is  forced  by  a  force 
pump,  or  through  pressure  from  the  city  water  works.  To 
the  end  of  the  hose  is  attached  a  heavy  sprinkler.  In  all 
districts  where  there  is  no  hydrant-water,  the  force  pump 
makes  a  good  substitute,  though,  of  course,  entailing 
double  work.  Most  of  our  large  florists,  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  York,  who  are  out  of  the  range  of  city  water 
works,  use  windmills  to  raise  the  water  from  wells  to  ele- 
vated tanks,  so  as  to  get  the  necessary  pressure,  and  thus 
do  away  with  the  necessity  of  the  force  pump.  When 
practicable,  we  prefer  to  water  or  syringe  plants  early  in 
the  forenoon  (say  from  9  to  11  A.  M.),  although  it  is  by 
no  means  imperative  to  do  so. 

Two  rules  are  laid  down  by  nearly  all  writers  that  I 
have  read  on  floriculture,  in  reference  to  the  water  to  be 
used  for  plants  ;  one,  that  it  must  be  rain,  or,  at  least, 
"  soft"  water  ;  the  other,  that  the  water  should  be  of  the 
same  temperature  as  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  plants 
are  growing. 

To  both  these  dogmas,  I  beg  to  respectfully  enter  my 
protest.  Such  dogmas  are  handed  down  from  one  to 
another,  without  one  in  a  hundred  of  those  who  hold 
them,  having  either  the  opportunity  or  inclination  to  test 
their  truth  by  experiment.  My  greenhouses,  at  Jersey 
City,  for  a  dozen  years,  were  entirely  watered  from  a  deep 
well  of  hard  water,  winter  and  summer,  which  might 
average  in  temperature  forty  degrees  ;  most  of  my 
greenhouses,  now  on  Jersey  City  Heights,  were  watered 
from  cisterns  inside  the  greenhouses,  from  rain-water 
caught  by  the  roof,  for  some  ten  years,  and  for  the  past 
dozen  years  we  have  used  the  city  water,  yet  we  have  never 
been  able  to  see  that  our  plants  have  been  in  any  way  dif- 
ferent under  these  three  different  conditions  of  watering. 


62  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

If  any  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  reason  for  a  minute,  he 
will  understand  why  there  is  no  necessity  for  this  equality 
of  temperature  between  the  water  and  the  soil.  If  we 
plunge  a  thermometer  into  the  soil  of  a  plant  in  the  hot- 
house, it  may  indicate,  say,  eighty  degrees  ;  if  we  pour  a 
pint  of  water  at  forty  degrees  into  the  soil,  the  tempera- 
ture will  not  be  forty  degrees,  but  about  the  mean  between 
forty  and  eighty  degrees,  say  sixty  degrees.  Now,  if 
the  soil  remained  for  any  length  of  time  at  sixty  degrees, 
it  might  be,  to  some  extent,  injurious  ;  but  it  does  noi. 
In  ten  minutes  it  will  become  of  the  same  temperature 
as  before  it  was  watered,  or  nearly  so,  by  the  absorption 
of  heat  from  the  atmosphere  of  the  house.  It  is  the 
duration  of  extremes  of  temperature  that  does  the 
mischief  ;  place  a  plant  of  Coleus  in  a  temperature  of 
thirty-three  degrees  for  forty-eight  hours,  and  it  will  be 
almost  certain  to  die,  while  it  would  remain  as  many 
minutes  without  injury.  Let  a  dash  of  sun  raise  the 
temperature  of  your  hot-bed  to  one  hundred  degrees,  or 
over,  for  ten  minutes,  and  it  will  not  seriously  injure  the 
contents,  but  an  hour  of  this  temperature  might  destroy 
all  the  plants. 

We  pour  ice-water  into  our  stomachs  at  a  temperature 
of  less  than  forty  degrees,  with  impunity,  because  but  a 
few  minutes  suffices  to  bring  it  to  the  temperature  it 
meets  with  there  ;  did  we  swallow  a  sufficient  quantity 
to  keep  the  stomach  at  the  temperature  of  ice-water  for 
any  length  of  time,  fatal  results  may  follow. 

Although  I  am  emphatic  against  the  necessity  of 
water  being  of  the  temperature  of  the  house,  where  the 
application  of  water  is  generally  used,  yet  I  admit  that 
if  preference  can  be  given  without  trouble,  give  it  to  the 
warmer  water.  I  also  agree  that  in  cases  such  as  forcing 
of  Lily  of  the  Valley,  or  for  tropical  cuttings  or  seeds 
just  germinating,  that  water  should  be  used  of  the  tem- 
perature of  the  house, 


THE   POTTING   OF   PLANTS.  63 

A  point  indispensable  in  our  hot  and  arid  climate  is, 
that  all  plants  in  the  greenhouse  should  stand  on  close 
benches,  overlaid  with  sand  or  ashes,  or  some  such  ma- 
terial. This  keeps  moist  and  prevents  the  plants  from 
suffering,  if  any  omission  occur  in  watering.  We  know 
that  the  practice  in  many  places  is  entirely  different  from 
this,  the  plants  being  stood  on  benches  of  open  slat- 
work.  No  plant  can  be  kept  healthy  in  such  a  place, 
unless  with  at  least  double  the  labor  of  watering' neces- 
sary with  those  standing  on  sand.  This,  like  many  other 
of  our  mistakes,  is  copied  from  the  mode  pursued  in 
England,  where  a  colder,  moister,  and  less  sunny  cli- 
mate may  make  it  a  necessary  practice. 

For  this  reason,  also,  we  prefer  to  use  benches,  or  tables, 
instead  of  the  stair-like  greenhouse  stage,  which  is  now 
almost  discarded.  However,  an  exception  to  .this  rule  is 
necessary  in  growing  Eoses  or  other  plants  in  large  pots 
or  tubs  for  winter  flowering,  where  complete  drainage  is 
necessary.  They  should,  in  all  such  cases,  stand  on  slat- 
ted benches  ;  if  placed  on  sand  or  ashes,  it  would  stop 
the  free  passage  of  water  from  the  holes  in  the  bottoms 
of  the  pots  or  tubs.  If  placed  on  such  benches,  the  pots 
or  tubs  should  be  raised  an  inch  or  so  on  pieces  of  wood 
to  admit  of  free  drainage. 


CHAPTER     XI. 
THE    POTTING    OF    PLANTS. 

The  first  operation  of  potting  is,  when  the  rooted  cutting 
is  transferred  from  the  cutting-bed  to  the  pot.  Almost 
without  exception,  plants  of  every  variety,  at  this  stage, 
should  be  placed  in  a  two-inch  pot ;  occasionally  some  of 
the  coarser-growing  Geraniums  may  require  the  three- 
inch  size,  from  the  fact  that  the  roots  are  too  large 


04  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

for  the  two-inch  pots ;  but  there  are  few  exceptions  of 
this  kind.  The  great  mass  of  plants,  when  in  the  con- 
dition of  rooted  cuttings,  do  much  better  in  the  smaller 
size,  for  the  reason  that  the  smaller  mass  of  soil  in  the 
two-inch  pot  allows  the  moisture  to  pass  off  quicker,  and 
thereby  prevents  the  soil  from  becoming  sour,  or  sodden, 
which  would  be  the  case,  more  or  less,  if  the  cuttings 
had  been  overpotted  in  a  three  or  four-inch  pot.  The 
operation  of  potting  cuttings  is  very  simple,  and,  in 
florists'  establishments,  is  performed  with  great  rapidity, 
average  workmen  doing  three  hundred  plants  per  hour, 
though  expert  working  florists  should  do  live  hundred  per 
hour.  We  have  quite  a  number  of  men  who  can  do  this 
with  ease.  The  pot  is  filled  to  the  level  with  soil,  a  space 
made  with  the  finger,  in  the  center  of  the  soil,  of  suffi- 
cient size  to  admit  the  root,  which  is  placed  in  the  open- 
ing thus  made  ;  the  soil  is  closed  in  again  by  pressing 
with  the  thumbs  close  to  the  neck  of  the  cutting,  which 
firms  the  soil  around  the  root ;  a  smart  rap  is  struck  the 
side  of  pot  with  the  hand,  which  levels  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
and  the  operation  is  done.  After  the  plants  are  placed  in 
pots,  they  are  shaded  from  two  to  six  days  by  covering 
them  with  paper  while  the  sun  is  shining  on  them,  care 
being  taken  to  keep  the  paper  moist  by  sprinkling.  For 
nearly  all  the  commoner  kinds  of  bedding  plants,  such  as 
Roses,  Verbenas,  Heliotropes,  etc.,  cuttings  in  these  two- 
inch  pots,  if  stood  on  tables,  which  are  covered  with  an  inch 
of  sand,  and  occasionally  moved,  to  keep  the  roots  from 
pushing  too  far  through  into  the  sand,  will  keep  in  a 
healthy  condition  from  one  to  two  months,  at  the  cool 
season  of  the  year,  from  January  to  May  ;  but  when  the 
pots  get  filled  with  roots,  the  plants  should  be  shifted 
into  larger  sized  pots,  to  keep  them  in  good  health.  When 
plants  are  required  to  be  grown  as  specimens,  or  of  larger 
size,  for  sale  in  spring,  they  must  be  repotted  at  intervals 
as  the  condition  of  their  growth  demands ;  for  example, 


THE  POTTING   OF  PLANTS.  65 

to  grow  a  Fuchsia  to  a  height  of  six  feet,  and  three  feet 
in  diameter,  a  pot  of  at  least  twelve  inches  across  the 
top  and  twelve  inches  in  depth  would  be  necessary ;  but 
it  would  not  do  to  jump  from  the  two-inch  cutting 
pot  to  this  size  at  once  ;  three  or  four  different  shifts 
are  necessary  to  attain  this  end  ;  these  shifts  should 
be  made,  as  a  general  thing,  not  greater  than  from  a 
two-inch  size  to  a  three-inch,  and  so  on.  I  know  that, 
a  few  years  ago,  considerable  agitation  was  made  in  favor 
of  what  was  termed  the  "  one  shift  system,"  and  fine 
specimens  were  exhibited  by  its  advocates,  to  show  its 
advantages.  There  is  no  question  that,  in  the  hands  of  a 
careful  and  experienced  man,  it  can  be  done,  but  it 
must  necessitate  much  closer  watching  in  watering,  in- 
volving much  more  labor  than  the  trouble  of  the  safer 
plan  of  repeated  shif tings.  The  time  to  shift  a  plant 
from  a  smaller  to  a  larger  pot  is  shown  by  the  roots  be- 
ginning to  mat  around  the  outer  surface  of  the  ball.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  shift  when  the  first  roots  touch  the 
side  of  the  pot ;  let  them  curl  pretty  well  around  the 
ball,  but  they  must  not  be  allowed  to  remain  long  enough 
to  become  hard  or  woody.  They  must  be  of  that  con- 
dition known  to  gardeners  as  "  working  roots,"  a  con- 
dition not  very  easy  to  describe,  unless  to  say  that  the 
appearance  of  such  roots  is  white,  soft  and  succulent. 
We  think  that  the  mode  of  shifting  a  plant  from  a 
smaller  to  a  larger  pot  would  soon  suggest  itself  to  the 
operator,  even  though  he  had  never  seen  it  done  ;  but  it 
is  a  little  ludicrous  to  see  the  various  absurd  methods  some- 
times resorted  to  by  our  amateur  friends  to  attain  this 
very  simple  end.  One  proceeds  with  a  knife  and  inserts 
it  all  around  the  sides  of  the  pot,  and  thus  scoops  it  out ; 
another  favorite  way  is  to  break  the  pot  with  a  hammer. 
I  have  known  many  of  our  lady  amateurs  to  practice 
these  methods,  who,  no  doubt,  know  well  how  to  turn  a 
pudding  or  a  jelly  out  of  a  form,  but  who  did  not  think 


66  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

that  the  ball  of  earth  enveloping  the  roots  of  a  plant 
could  be  turned  out  of  a  flower-pot  in  the  same  way.  In 
most  cases  the  slightest  tap  on  the  edge  of  the  pot  is  suffi- 
cient to  turn  out  the  ball  of  earth.  Soil,  in  depth  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  plant,  should  be  placed  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pot,  the  ball  placed  in  the  center,  and  the  soil 
packed  moderately  firm  in  the  space  between  that  and 
the  sides  of  the  pot,  either  by  the  fingers  or  by  a  piece  of 
wood,  made  of  suitable  size  for  the  purpose.  When  plants 
are  first  potted  off,  or  shifted,  they  should  be  stood  with 
the  pots  touching  each  other,  if  the  diameter  of  the  plant 
is  less  than  that  of  the  pot ;  but,  as  they  begin  to  develop 
growth,  the  plants  should  be  spread  apart,  according  to 
their  size  or  development  of  foliage,  to  allow  the  air  free 
circulation  about  the  outside  of  the  pots.  The  effect  of  this 
is  most  marked  in  the  greenhouse,  and  teaches  us  a  les- 
son as  to  the  great  necessity  of  the  admission  of  air  to  the 
roots  in  all  our  operations,  whether  under  glass,  or  in  the 
open  field.  If  we  pot  off  a  lot  of  Fuchsias,  Geraniums, 
or  other  large-leaved  plants,  with  the  pots  touching  each 
other,  and  place  them  in  a  temperature  of  sixty  degrees, 
in  eight  or  ten  days  they  will  have  grown  so  as  to  cover 
over  the  whole  space,  so  that  the  pots  can  hardly  be  seen. 
Examine  those  in  the  center  of  the  lot,  and  it  will  be 
found  that  the  roots  that  have  reached  to  the  side  of 
the  pot  are  few  and  feeble ;  but  move  a  portion  of  the 
pots  so  that  a  space  of  an  inch  or  two  is  made  between 
them,  to  give  the  air  a  free  circulation  around  the  pots, 
and  in  six  days  after  it  will  be  found  that  strong  and 
healthy  roots  will  have  been  'emitted  by  those  that  have 
been  given  the  additional  space,  while  the  others,  left 
standing  close,  have  made  little  or  no  progress  in  root 
formation,  and  but  a  slender  and  weakly  upward  growth. 
The  roots  in  the  open  field,  could  we  see  them  in  their 
unbroken  state,  as  we  can  in  turning  out  a  plant  from  a 


THE   POTTING   OF   PLANTS.  67 

pot,  would  show  the  same  differences  in  vitality  under 
corresponding  circumstances. 

It  has  often  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  many  ama- 
teurs, and  even  professional  gardeners,  how  it  is  that  such 
extraordinary  vigor  and  health  are  obtained  in  the  plants 
grown  by  many  New  York  florists,  in  pots  that  seem  to 
be  entirely  inadequate  in  size  for  the  support  of  such 
vigor.  This  is  done  by  a  practice  not  generally  known 
outside  of  this  vicinity.  When  a  plant  shows  by  the  con- 
dition of  its  roots  that  it  requires  a  supply  of  fresh  soil 
for  its  support,  instead  of  shifting  it  into  a  larger  pot,  it 
is  taken  out  and  the  soil  washed  clean  from  the  roots,  and 
either  placed  back  again  in  the  same  pot,  in  fresh  soil,  or 
in  one  of  only  a  single  size  larger. 

This  washing  the  soil  from  the  roots,  instead  of  shak- 
ing it  off,  has  the  advantage  of  leaving  all  the  fibres  or 
working  roots  intact,  while  by  shaking  the  soil  from  the 
ball,  the  most  valuable  parts  of  the  root  are  injured. 
Plants  thus  grown  are  particularly  valuable  for  distant 
shipment,  as  a  strong-rooted  and  vigorous  plant  is  ob- 
tained without  the  necessity  of  shipping  a  heavy  weight 
of  soil. 

For  many  years  we  have  sent  to  our  patrons  in  the 
trade  thousands  of  plants  annually,  every  particle  of  soil 
being  first  washed  from  the  roots  ;  the  plants,  in  all  cases, 
arriving  in  as  fine  order  as  if  they  had  been  sent  with 
the  ball  of  soil  around  them,  and  saving  at  least  nine- 
tenths  of  the  freight. 

This  practice,  however,  is  not  good,  unless  the  season 
is  early  enough  for  the  plants  to  have  time  to  become 
established  in  the  pots,  and  it  is  not  prudent  to  do  so 
later  than  March.  If  the  weather  is  hot,  more  care  is 
necessary  in  shading  the  plants  until  they  have  begun  to 
take  root  in  the  new  soil. 


68  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTUBE. 

CHAPTER    XII. 
DRAINAGE  IN  POTS. 

Many  years  ago,  in  some  of  my  first  writings  on  the 
subject  of  drainage  in  pots,  I  admit  to  having  taken 
rather  too  radical  ground  against  the  practice,  because, 
in  those  days,  almost  everybody  used  to  "  crock  "  or  drain 
the  very  smallest  pots.  The  absurdity  of  this  soon  be- 
came apparent  to  me,  as  I  found  that,  with  hardly  an 
exception,  for  plants  in  pots  up  to  the  size  of  four  inches, 
it  was  worse  than  useless  to  drain  ;  and  as  all  my  prac- 
tice, up  to  that  time,  had  been  with  pots  but  little  larger 
than  four  inches,  I  rather  rashly  jumped  to  the  conclusion 
that,  in  our  warm,  dry  atmosphere,  the  European  prac- 
tice of  crocking  all  sizes  of  flower  pots  might  be  wholly 
dispensed  with  here  ;  but  added  experience  showed  that 
even  in  our  dry  atmosphere,  flower-pots  of  five  inches  in 
diameter  and  upward,  in  which  are  grown  Roses  or  other 
plants  with  roots  sensitive  to  moisture,  had  better  be 
crocked  or  drained,  particularly  if  to  be  grown  in  winter. 
It  is  not  pleasant  to  admit  an  error,  particularly  when 
promulgated  in  print  for  the  "  instruction  "  of  others  ; 
but  it  is  better  to  make  what  amend  is  possible,  by  making 
the  acknowledgment,  than  to  continue  to  stick  to  opin- 
ions before  given,  when  there  is  reason  to  believe  these 
were  formed  in  error. 

DRAINING  IN  FLOWER  POTS. — If  the  pots  are  over  five 
inches  in  diameter,  charcoal  broken  into  pieces  from  one- 
half  to  on«  inch  in  diameter,  I  prefer  to  every  other  kind 
of  drainage ;  this  should  be  in  depth  from  one  inch  to 
four  inches,  according  to  the  size  of  the  pot  to  be  drained, 
an  extra  quantity  being  necessary  if  the  plant  is  being 
shifted  into  a  pot  too  large  ;  then  ample  drainage  is  indis- 


EXPERT  GARDEN  WORKMEN.  69 

pensable  to  admit  of  the  quick  escape  of  water.  This 
drainage,  so  called,  is  not  alone  of  use  as  a  means  for  the 
rapid  escape  of  water,  but  also  for  the  admission  of  air  to 
the  roots,  which  brings  in  another  important  matter  in 
connection  with  the  drainage  in  pots,  the  necessity  of 
standing  them  on  some  rough  material  (when  solid 
benches  are  used  in  the  greenhouse,  or  when  placed  in 
the  open  air  in  beds),  such  as  gravel  or  cinders;  for  if 
placed  on  sand,  soil,  or  anything  that  will  close  up  the 
orifice  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  all  the  drainage  placed 
in  it  will  avail  nothing.  It  is  far  better  to  use  no  drain- 
age at  all,  and  stand  the  pots  on  a  rough  surface,  than  to 
use  the  drainage  and  place  the  pots  on  some  material  that 
will  close  the  outlet.  If,  however,  the  bench  is  formed 
of  slate,  or  boards  that  have  been  cemented  over,  so  as  to 
form  a  smooth  surface,  there  is  no  necessity  for  placing 
any  gravel  or  other  rough  material  under  the  pots,  as  such 
a  surface  will  allow  the  water  to  pass  from  the  pots  more 
freely  than  if  anything,  such  as, gravel,  were  placed  under 
them.  For  very  large  pots  slatted  benches  are  best. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
EXPERT  GARDEN  WORKMEN. 

In  my  long  experience  with  workmen,  I  have  observed 
that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  man  who  could  move 
his  hands  quickest,  was  almost  certain  to  be  the  man 
most  successful  in  life.  Rapid  movement  of  the  hands  in 
such  light  operations  as  writing  or  typesetting,  argue 
quick  mental  decision,  and  if  such  a  mind  is  well-balanced, 
its  possessor  is  more  likely  to  distinguish  himself  than  he 
who  moves  more  sluggishly.  Now,  two- thirds  of  all  garden 
operations — particularly  those  of  flower  gardening — are 


70  PEACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

as  light  as  either  writing  or  typesetting,  and  for  many 
years  I  have  taken  great  pains  to  stimulate  my  workmen 
to  rapidity  of  movement  in  all  our  light  work,  and  it  is 
astonishing  what  the  gain  in  labor  has  been  in  this  par- 
ticular. The  average  work  of  a  man  planting  Cabbage  or 
Lettuce  plants,  when  we  began  market  gardening,  did  not 
exceed  2,000  a  day;  now,  and  for  many  years  past,  a 
man,  with  a  boy  to  drop  the  plants,  will  set  6,000  a  day, 
and  one  of  my  old  foremen,  John  Scarry,  has  repeatedly 
planted  10,000  in  a  day.  In  the  lighter  work  of  our 
greenhouses  rapid  movement  is  even  of  more  importance, 
and  the  rivalry  among  our  workmen  for  distinction  in 
this  matter  is  of  great  benefit  to  themselves  as  well  as  to 
us. 

Four  years  ago  the  acknowledged  "  Champion  "  in  all 
our  force  of  seventy  hands,  was  a  young  Irishman  named 
James  Marvey,  who  died  in  1883  at  the  age  of  thirty-two. 
He  had  been  in  my  employment  for  nearly  twenty  years 
and  had  ever  distinguished  himself  for  rapid  and  neat 
workmanship,  for,  sonic  years  before  his  death,  he  had 
repeatedly  potted  10,000  cuttings,  in  two  and  a  half  inch 
pots,  in  ten  consecutive  hours,  and  had  attained  on  one 
occasion  the  extraordinary  number  of  11,500  in  ten  con- 
secutive hours.  I  paid  him  for  years  $5.00  per  day,  and 
always  considered  him  one  of  our  cheapest  workmen, 
because,  not  only  did  he  earn  all  he  got,  but  his  example 
fostered  a  spirit  of  emulation  among  our  other  em- 
ployees, valuable  alike  to  themselves  and  to  us. 


COLD  FRAMES.— WINTER  PROTECTION.  71 

CHAPTER     XIV. 
COLD  FRAMES.— WINTER  PROTECTION. 

Many  of  the  plants  used  for  the  decoration  of  the  flower 
borders  in  summer,  may  be  kept  through  the  winter  in 
what  are  termed  cold  frames,  or  sunken  pits.  These  are 
formed  by  excavating  the  earth  about  two  feet  deep  and 
of  a  width  to  suit  the  usual  six-foot  sash,  and  of  such 
length  as  may  be  required.  The  sides  of  the  pit  are 
boarded  up,  on  the  front  or  south  side,  to  a  height  of 
eight  or  ten  inches,  and  at  the  back  or  north  side,  some 
six  inches  higher,  to  give  the  necessary  slope  to  carry  off 
the  water  from  the  sashes  and  to  better  catch  the  sun's 
rays.  Thus  formed,  the  frame  will  measure  about  three 
feet  deep  from  the  sash  in  front  and  about  three  feet  and 
one-half  at  the  back.  Or,  if  the  work  is  desired  to  be 
permanent,  the  sides  may  be  built  of  brick  instead  of 
boards. 

Above  all  other  considerations,  the  place  where  the  pit 
is  built  must  be  free  from  standing  water,  and  if  not  nat- 
urally dry,  must  be  so  drained  as  to  carry  off  the  water. 
A  good  plan  is  to  cement  the  bottom  of  these  pits,  which 
tends  greatly  to  keep  the  bottom  dry.  We  adopt  this  plan 
in  all  our  sunken  pits,  having  the  bottom  so  formed  that 
all  water  is  carried  off  from  the  front  or  lower  side. 
Whenever  practicable,  the  situation  should  be  warm  and 
well  sheltered,  as  such  a  position  will  save  a  great  deal  in 
winter  covering.  In  such  a  pit,  tender  Roses  can  be  kept 
in  the  best  possible  condition,  better,  in  our  opinion,  than 
in  any  greenhouse.  If  kept  in  pots  (which  is  the  best 
way  to  keep  them),  the  pots  should  be  plunged  to  the  rim 
in  sawdust,  leaves,  tan-bark,  or  some  such  light  material. 
Besides  Roses,  the  plants  embraced  in  the  following  list 
may  be  wintered  over  with  safety  in  this  latitude,  pro- 


72  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

vided  that  care  is  taken  to  admit  light  and  air,  whenever 
the  weather  will  permit.  The  pits  must  be  thoroughly 
covered  up  at  night  with  mats  and  shutters  ;  this,  if  well 
done,  will  keep  the  plants  from  freezing  injuriously  in 
any  district  where  the  thermometer  does  not  fall  more 
than  ten  degrees  below  zero. 

Azaleas,  Pentstemons, 

Antirrhinums,  Verbenas, 

Carnations  (Monthly),  Stock  Gilliflowers, 
Camellias,  Wallflowers, 

Fuchsias,  Roses  of  all  kinds, 

Geraniums,  Pinks,  (Florists'). 

Plants  to  be  kept  over  in  frames  should  be  potted  at 
least  a  month  previous  to  the  setting  in  of  cold  weather  ; 
all  had  better  be  well  established  in  pots  before  the 
middle  of  November,  and  until  that  time  the  plants 
should  be  fully  exposed  to  the  light  and  air,  by  the  entire 
removal  of  the  sashes,  unless  on  unusually  harsh  and  cold 
days.  From  the  middle  of  November  to  the  middle  of 
March  but  little  watering  will  be  required.  In  cases  of 
severe  snow  storms,  the  pit  may  remain  covered  up,  if 
the  weather  is  cold,  for  two  weeks  at  a  time,  without 
exposing  the  plants  to  the  light,  and  Roses,  Camellias,  or 
Azaleas,  in  a  dormant  state,  may  remain  even  a  month  , 
but,  as  before  said,  whenever  practicable,  admit  light  and 
air.  For  outdoor  protection  of  Roses,  sec  chapter  devoted 
to  them. 

Many  plants  may  be  saved  in  a  dry,  cool  cellar.  The 
plants  that  can  be  best  kept  during  winter  in  the  cellar 
are  :  Carnations,  Fuchsias,  Geraniums,  Roses,  Lemon 
Verbenas  and  Dahlia  roots.  If  the  plants  are  to  be  lifted 
from  the  ground,  cut  away  all  strong  growing  shoots  ;  in 
the  case  of  Geraniums  or  Fuchsias,  cut  them  well  in,  and 
plant  them  in  shallow  (six-inch  deep)  boxes  of  soil, 
keeping  them  exposed  to  the  open  air  as  late  as  the 
weather  will  permit.  This  can  be  best  done  by  taking 


COLD  FRAMES. — WINTER  PROTECTION.  ?3 

them  into  some  shelter  at  night  and  exposing  them  to 
light  and  air  during  the  day  ;  this  will  harden  them  to 
endure  their  winter  quarters  in  the  cellar.  Once  placed 
in  the  cellar,  if  cool  and  moist,  as  cellars  usually  are,  no 
water  should  be  given  until  they  are  again  moved  out  to 
the  light  in  May.  Remember  that  thus  immersed  in  the 
dark  cellar  in  their  dormant  state,  water  or  moisture  will 
injure  them  beyond  recovery,  unless  they  have  become 
unusually  dry. 

Shallow  cold  frames  are  used  for  keeping  Pansies,  Car- 
nations, Daisies,  Forget-me-nots,  Primroses,  Auriculas, 
etc.,  over  winter.  They  are  formed  by  using  a  ten  or 
twelve  inch  board  for  the  back  and  a  seven  or  nine  inch 
board  for  the  front  of  the  frame,  which  should  be  of  a 
width  that  can  be  covered  by  a  six-foot  sash.  All  of  the 
plants  above  named,  will  keep  safely  over  winter  without 
other  covering  than  the  sash,  but  if  wanted  for  early 
flowers,  it  will  pay  well  to  cover  at  night  with  shutters,  or, 
better,  with  straw  mats.  There  has  been  recently  intro- 
duced a  thin,  light  fabric,  which  has  been  named  "protect- 
ing cloth,"  which,  after  April  25th,  answers  all  the  pur- 
poses of  sashes  in  this  latitude.  When  all  danger  of  severe 
freezing  is  past,  and  at  a  time  when  greenhouses  get 
crowded  with  bedding  plants,  such  as  Geraniums,  Ver- 
benas, Roses,  or  other  plants  that  can  be  grown  at  a  low 
temperature,  the  covering  with  this  cloth  will  answer 
quite  as  well  as  sashes — in  fact,  in  inexperienced  hands, 
better,  for  there  is  no  danger  of  the  frames  being  too 
much  heated  when  so  covered,  as  is  the  case  with  sashes, 
if  ventilation  has  been  neglected.  "  Sashes  "  formed  of 
the  protecting  cloth  can  be  made  for  twenty-five  or  thirty 
cents  each,  as  the  cloth  can  be  bought  for  nine  or  ten 
cents  per  yard,  and  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  tack  it  on  to 
a  light  frame  and  you  have  a  cover  as  useful  during  the 
months  of  May  and  June  as  a  glass  sash  would  be,  costing 
ten  times  as  much.  We  have  also  found  this  covering  of 


74  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

the  protecting  cloth  sash  to  be  an  excellent  covering  for 
Pansy  and  other  seeds  sown  in  the  fall,  as  it  keeps  the 
ground  moist,  preventing  it  from  drying  up  by  the  sun 
and  air,  and  giving  just  the  amount  necessary  for  the 
germination  of  seeds  ;  but  it  should  not  be  used  to  cover 
anything  in  this  latitude  from  the  first  of  December  to 
the  middle  of  April,  as  it  would  not  answer  in  severe 
weather. 


CHAPTER    XV. 
THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  HOT-BEDS. 

The  most  economical  way  of  making  hot-beds  is  to 
place  the  manure  in  pits  made  in  the  way  described  for 
cold  frames,  except  that  they  may  be  made  a  foot  or  so 
deeper,  so  as  to  admit  at  least  eighteen  inches  of  manure. 
The  heating  material  for  hot-beds  is  usually  horse  manure, 
but  refuse  hops,  leaves  from  the  woods,  or  tan-bark,  will 
answer  nearly  as  well  when  one  is  more  readily  attainable 
than  another. 

Whatever  material  is  employed,  it  should  be  thrown  into 
a  heap  of  sufficient  size  to  generate  heat,  and  be  repeat- 
edly turned  until  the  rank  heat  has  been  expelled,  which 
will  usually  be  done  by  turning  twice.  The  mass  will  be 
in  the  proper  condition  to  be  put  into  the  pit  in  eight  or 
ten  days  from  the  time  of  starting  with  the  raw 
material.  In  spreading  it  in  the  pit,  it  should  be  firmly 
trodden  down  to  the  depth  of  eighteen  inches,  so  that 
the  heat  may  be  longer  retained.  If  the  hot-bed  is  to  be 
used  to  receive  plants  in  pots,  a  covering  of  four  to  six 
inches  of  sawdust,  in  which  to  place  or  plunge  the  pots, 
should  be  put  over  the  heating  material.  If  the  bed  is  to 
be  used  for  the  sowing  of  annual  or  other  seeds,  acorering 
of  six  inches  of  light  soil  should  be  put  over  the  manure. 
Before  placing  plants,  or  sowing  seeds  in  the  hot-beds, 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   HOT-BEDS.  75 

plunge  a  thermometer  in  the  bed,  and  when  the  heat  begins 
to  decline  from  100  degrees,  then  operations  may  be 
begun  with  safety.  But  for  whatever  purpose  a  hot-bed 
is  used,  in  all  such  latitudes  as  New  York,  the  beds  should 
never  be  made  before  the  first  week  in  March  ;  great  risk 
is  run  if  they  are  made  much  sooner,  with  but  little  ad- 
vantage in  earliness.  Greater  caution  is  necessary  in  air- 
ing than  with  the  cold  frame,  for  with  the  hot-bed  the 
heat  from  the  manure,  together  with  that  of  the  sun's 
rays,  will  often,  in  an  hour,  run  the  temperature  so  high 
as  to  destroy  its  entire  contents,  if  airing  at  the  proper 
time  has  been  neglected.  Many  a  merchant,  doing  busi- 
ness in  the  city,  has  gone  home  in  the  evening  to  his 
country  residence  to  find  that  his  hot-bed,  that  had  been 
his  pride  in  the  morning,  had  become  a  scorched  brown 
mass  at  night  for  want  of  attention  to  the  safety-valve  of 
"airing."  In  such  cases,  when  no  competent  person  is 
in  charge,  the  safest  way  is  to  tilt  the  sashes  a  few  inches, 
even  before  the  necessity  arises,  rather  than  run  the  risk 
of  the  sun  coming  out  strong,  and  destroying  the  whole. 
In  a  southern  exposure,  in  a  sheltered  place,  there  is 
rarely  danger  in  admitting  air  in  most  days  in  March  or 
April  from  nine  to  four  o'clock.  But,  of  course,  judg- 
ment must  be  used  in  extreme  cases.  The  greater  heat 
in  the  hot-beds  necessitates  watering  freely  whenever  the 
surface  of  the  soil  appears  dry,  which,  in  dry  weather,  if 
the  heat  is  strong,  will  usually  be  every  other  day.  In 
the  absence  of  sashes,  the  "protecting  cloth  "  alluded  to 
in  the  chapter  on  cold  frames,  can  be  used  to  cover  the 
hot-bed.  Its  use  is  safer  than  that  of  glass  sashes,  for  the 
bed  does  not  heat  up  as  if  covered  by  sashes — in  fact,  there 
is  no  necessity  of  ventilating  at  all,  if  covered  by  the 
"cloth  sashes,"  although  in  mild  days  they  should  be 
taken  off  altogether  to  admit  the  light  to  the  plants,  but 
protecting  cloth  should  not  be  used  on  the  hot-beds 
sooner  than  the  middle  of  March. 


76  PEACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
GREENHOUSE  STRUCTURES. 

I  have  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  beginning  to  describe  our 
present  modes  of  constructing  greenhouses,  well  knowing 
that  hundreds  of  my  readers  will  turn  with  interest  to 
this  page,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  enlightened  on  a 
subject  on  which  doubtless  many  of  them  have  seriously 
blundered.  I  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  success  in 
business,  but  I  feel  well  assured  that,  for  the  first  ten 
years  of  my  time,  many  thousands  of  dollars  were  sacri- 
ficed in  the  blunders  made  in  my  endeavors  to  get  on  the 
right  track. 

There  was  no  fixed  system  ;  all  was  confusion,  hardly 
two  of  us  building  alike,  and,  in  my  humble  opinion,  most 
of  us  building  wrong. 

The  style  of  greenhouse  to  be  built  must  be  governed 
by  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  wanted.  If  for  the  grow- 
ing of  a  general  assortment  of  greenhouse  or  bedding- 
plants,  many  years'  experience  in  working  of  those  on 
the  ridge  and  furrow  system,  on  the  extensive  scale  in  use 
by  us,  makes  us  confident  in  the  belief  that  this  system 
is  all  we  have  previously  claimed  for  it,  as  being  the  most 
economical  of  space,  most  economical  of  heat,  and  most 
economical  in  cost  of  construction. 

For  greenhouses  to  be  constructed  of  movable  sashes, 
figure  16  represents  the  end  section  and  ground  plan  of 
the  style  of  house  referred  to,  which  may  be  used  for  the 
purpose  of  growing  Roses,  greenhouse  or  bedding-plants, 
or  anything  requiring  protection  in  winter.  The  green- 
houses represented  in  this  plan  are  100  feet  in  length, 
and  each  eleven  feet  wide  inside.  The  heating  of  the 
whole  (that  is,  the  three  measuring  from  the  outside  walls 
thirty-six  by  one  hundred  feet)  is  done  by  one  of  Hitch- 


GREENHOUSE  STRUCTURES. 


77 


Fig.  16. — GBEENHOU8E  HEATED  BT  HOT  WATEK  PIPES. 


78  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

ing's  Combination  Boilers  (C),  heating  about  1,200  feet 
of  four-inch  pipe  (D).  The  glass  roof  (E)  is  formed  of 
portable  sashes,  each  six  feet  by  three  feet ;  each  alter- 
nate sash  is  screwed  down,  the  others  being  movable,  so 
that  a  full  supply  of  air  can  be  given  when  necessary. 

The  movable  sash  is  elevated  by  an  iron  bar  fifteen 
inches  long,  attached  to  the  sash  by  a  staple  ;  in  this  bur 
three  holes  are  punched,  at  distances  of  three  inches 
apart ;  by  means  of  these  holes  the  bar  can  be  hooked 
upon  an  iron  pin  placed  in  the  ridge-pole,  and  thus 
hold  the  sash  more  or  less  open,  to  graduate  the  admis- 
sion of  air.  When  the  sash  is  shut  down,  the  bar  is 
hooked  on  to  a  pin  that  secures  it  in  place,  so  that  the 
sash  cannot  be  moved  by  wind.  I  am  particular  to 
describe  this  method  of  airing,  as  it  is,  as  far  as  our  expe- 
rience has  gone,  the  best  method  we  have  ever  seen  used. 
The  ridge-poles  are  cut  out  exactly  as  is  shown  at  /,  and 
the  sash  lays  on  the  shoulder,  braced  by  the  angle  shown 
in  the  cut.  The  interior  arrangements  are  shown  by  the 
end  section.  G  shows  the  bench,  or  table,  as  it  is  com- 
pleted. The  space  beneath  the  bench,  if  bottom  heat  is 
required  for  propagating  or  other  purposes,  should  be 
boarded  up  below  the  bottom  of  the  pipes,  the  lower  board 
being  hinged,  so  that,  on  cold  nights,  additional  heat  can 
be  given  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  house,  if  required.  But 
for  the  general  uses  of  growing  plants,  the  benches  must 
be  left  open  below,  so  that  the  heat  given  out  by  the 
pipes  will  pass  freely  to  all  parts  of  the  house.  If  one 
house  is  wanted  of  a  higher  temperature  than  the  others, 
it  will  be  necesary  to  board  up  along  the  posts  from  the 
ground  to  the  top  of  the  posts,  and  by  wholly  or  partially 
shutting  the  valves  in  the  pipes  of  the  other  houses, 
throw  a  greater  heat  into  the  one  in  which  the  high  tem- 
perature is  wanted.  The  walks  through  the  house  (K) 
are  two  feet  wide,  which  leaves  four  feet  and  one-half  on 
each  side  for  bench  room.  These  widths  we  find  to  be 


GREENHOUSE   STRUCTURES.  79 

most  convenient  for  the  working  of  the  plants  ;  if  nar- 
rower, too  much  space  would  be  lost ;  if  wider,  the  fur- 
ther side  of  the  benches  could  not  be  reached  easily. 

The  width  of  the  walk,  however,  must  be  determined 
by  what  the  greenhouses  are  designed  for  ;  if  for  workmen 
merely,  two  feet,  or  even  less  room,  will  do  for  the  walk  ; 
but  if  visitors  are  to  be  accommodated,  it  should  be  at 
least  two  feet  and  one-half  in  width. 

A  brick  shed  (A)  covers  the  boiler  pit  (F),  and  is 
attached  to  the  north  end  of  the  houses,  the  back  wall 
being  about  twelve  feet  high,  the  front  eight  feet,  width 
sixteen  feet ;  besides  breaking  off  the  north  wind  from 
the  greenhouses,  we  find  this  shed  indispensable  as 
a  potting  and  packing  room.  It  will  be  understood  that 
these  greenhouses  have  their  ends  north  and  south  ;  con- 
sequently one  side  is  exposed  to  the  east  in  the  morning, 
the  other  to  the  west  in  the  afternoon,  while  at  noonday 
the  rays  of  the  sun  strike  directly  upon  the  apex  of  the 
roof.  There  is  nothing  arbitrary  in  having  the  green- 
houses end  north  and  south  ;  a  point  to  the  east  or  west 
would  not  make  any  material  difference,  but,  if  circum- 
stances will  admit,  we  prefer  them  to  end  direct  north 
and  south. 

.At  present  prices,  built  in  a  plain,  substantial  manner, 
with  the  outer  walls  of  brick  or  stone,  and  heated  with 
hot  water,  they  will  cost  about  $8  per  running  foot,  or 
$2,400  for  the  three  connected— that  is,  the  range  of 
three  greenhouses  100  feet  long  by  thirty-three  feet  wide, 
together  with  the  shed  to  cover  the  boiler-pit ;  if  put  up 
singly,  the  cost  would  be  at  least  ten  per  cent.  more.  If 
walls  are  formed  of  wood,  which  we  now  prefer,  the  whole 
cost  might  be  lessened  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent. 

Another  plan  in  use  is  shown  in  figure  17,  combining  the 
flue  and  boiler,  from  the  same  furnace.  This  is  the  most 
economical  plan  in  which  hot  water  can  be  used.  As 
shown  in  the  engraving,  there  are  two  houses  joined 


80 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


p 

1 

;  — 

• 

1 

j 

f 

M 

-,    i 

J 

t 

:;:--:::::-._-:££ 

^ 

Ffg.  17.— PLAN  OF  HOUSE  HEATED  BT  BOTH  FLOK  AMD  PIPB8. 


GREENHOUSE   STRUCTURES. 


81 


together,  each  eleven  feet  wide  by  seventy  feet  in  length. 
For  colder  sections  of  the  country  than  the  vicinity  of 
New  York,  from  fifty  to  sixty  feet  in  length  would  prob- 
ably be  sufficient,  but  much  depends  on  exposure,  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  building  is  constructed.  One 
of  the  houses  is  heated  by  the  flue,  F\  the  other  by  the 
pipes,  P.  The  boiler,  b,  shown  in  the  end  view  of  the 
same  house,  figure  18,  is  what  is  termed  a  "saddle" 
boiler,  which  answers  at  the  same  time  the  double  purpose 
of  an  arch  for  the  furnace  and  a  boiler.  The  fire  in  this 


Fig.  18.— END  VIEW  OF  FIGURE  17. 


furnace  does  nearly  the  same  amount  of  heating  as  two 
such  fires,  if  used  in  heating  by  flues  only.  Thus,  by  this 
combination  of  flue  and  pipes,  the  construction  of  the 
heating  arrangements  costs  about  fifty  per  cent,  less  than 
if  the  house  were  heated  entirely  by  hot  water.  The 
probable  cost  of  two  houses  of  this  kind,  each  seventy  by 
eleven  feet,  so  heated,  and  otherwise  complete,  would 
cost  about  $1,000.  In  erecting  all  houses  on  the  ridge 
and  furrow  plan,  the  site  should,  whenever  practicable, 
be  such  as  will  admit  of  extension  by  future  buildings,  to 
meet  the  increase  of  business.  A  good  plan  in  beginning 
is,  to  erect  three  houses,  as  shown  in  figure  19,  fifty 
feet  in  length,  so  situated,  that  as  business  increases, 
and  with  more  means  in  hand,  the  south  ends  can  be 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


i     i        n 


L  L 


Fig.  19.— GBBENHOUSE  HEATED  BT  FLUES. 


GREENHOUSE  STRUCTURES.  83 

taken  out,  the  walls  extended  twenty-five  or  fifty  feet 
further,  the  flues  thrown  out,  and  the  heating  done  by 
hot  water  or  steam.  For,  whenever  it  can  be  afforded, 
the  heating  by  hot  water  or  steam  will  be  found  to  be 
much  the  best ;  not  that  there  is  very  much  saving  in  fuel 
over  heating  by  flues,  but  it  is  more  durable,  more  free 
from  danger  from  fire,  or  the  escaping  of  gases,  so  trouble- 
some with  flues;  besides  it  is  an  immense  saving  of  labor, 
more  particularly  if  the  greenhouses  are  extensive.  Al- 
though there  is  less  danger  from  fire  when  greenhouses 
are  heated  by  steam  or  hot- water  boilers,  yet  all  care 
should  be  used.  One  of  the  dangers  is  in  covering 
the  boiler-pit  with  wooden  beams,  which,  if  placed  too 
near  the  chimney,  often  ignite.  Every  season  there  are 
many  greenhouse  fires  from  this  cause.  In  our  own 
establishment  all  our  pits  are  covered  with  railroad  iron, 
over  which  are  built  brick  arches ;  even  the  ladders  lead- 
ing down  to  the  boilers  are  of  iron. 

CHEAP  GREENHOUSES — HOW  TO  HEAT  THEM. 

In  the  American  Agriculturist  for  November,  1874,  I 
described  and  gave  a  diagram  of  a  method  of  heating  a 
greenhouse  twenty  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  feet  long, 
by  the  ordinary  smoke-flue  and  with  only  one  fire.  Here- 
tofore it  had  been  believed  that  it  was  impossible  to  heat 
a  structure  of  that  size  with  but  one  furnace,  and  few 
ever  risked  a  house  more  than  one-third  of  the  size  with 
a  single  fire.  The  principle  there  described,  although 
not  a  new  one  (as  I  afterwards  ascertained,  as  it  had  been 
recorded  in  the  Transactions  of  the  London  Horticultural 
Society  some  fifty  years  before),  had  certainly  never  been 
generally  practised,  and  its  publication  in  the  American 
Agriculturist  created  a  great  deal  of  interest,  and  also 
involved  me  in  an  extensive  correspondence.  In  that 
article  I  showed  only  its  application  to  that  particular 


PBAOTICAL  FLOKICULTURE. 


structure,  which  was  too  large  and  expensive  for  the  wants 
of  beginners  in  floriculture.  I  will  here  show  how  other 
houses  of  different  designs  and  of  smaller  dimensions  may 
be  heated  on  the  same  principle.  Figure  20  shows  three 
of  the  usual  ridge  and  furrow  houses,  which  are  sixty  feet 
long  and  eleven  feet  wide,  each,  with  a  furnace-room  or 
shed,  at  one  end,  which  is  twelve  by  thirty-three  feet. 
Of  course,  the  length  may  be  increased  or  diminished  as 
desired,  but  this  width  is  found  to  be  the  most  convenient. 


F.R. 


Fig.  20.— PLAN  OF  THREE  HOUSES  COMBINED.—  Length,60  ft.;  width,33ft 

P,  X,  Furnace  Boom,  12x33  ft.;  S,  B,  Benches,  4i/*.  wide;  W,  W,  Walks, 

2ft.  wide;  S,  S,  Smoke-flue  for  Jieating  ;  C,  F,  Furnace,  with  Chimney  built 

on  top  of  it. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  three  greenhouses  are  heated  by 
two  furnaces,  the  flue  being  so  disposed  under  the  center 
benches  of  the  houses  as  not  to  cross  any  of  the  pathways. 
This  gives,  of  course,  two  runs  of  the  flue  to  the  middle 
house,  and  only  one  run  each  to  the  outside  houses.  This 
would,  in  coldest  weather,  give  a  temperature  of  forty 
degrees  to  the  outside  houses,  and  sixty  or  sixty-five 
degrees  to  the  middle  house,  which  has  two  runs  of  flues. 
This  difference  in  temperature  is  indispensable  in  a  gen- 
eral collection  of  plants,  and  the  neglect  of  it  is,  more 
than  anything  else,  the  cause  of  failure  where  growers 


GREEKHOUSE  STRUCTURES.  85 

have  but  one  greenhouse.  It  will  be  necessary  to  have 
the  flues  built  as  close  to  the  walks  as  possible,  so  that 
the  heat  maybe  evenly  distributed  in  the  two  outside 
houses.  The  cost  of  three  greenhouses,  each  eleven  by 
sixty  feet,  connected  as  shown  on  the  plan,  heated  by 
flues,  would  be  about  $600  at  present  prices  in  this 
locality.  Figure  21  shows  a  greenhouse  twenty  feet  wide 
by  sixty  feet  long,  with  furnace-room,  or  shed,  twelve  by 
twenty  feet.  Here  again  the  flues  are  so  disposed  as  to 
avoid  crossing  the  walks,  being  placed  under  the  center 
bench,  but  as  near  as  possible  to  the  walk  on  each  side, 


Fig.    21. — PLAN  OF   A  SINGLE  HOUSE.— 60x20  ft. 

F,  R,  Furnace  Room,  12x20  ft.,-  B,  B,  Side  Benches,  4 ft.  wide;  C,  C,  Cen- 
ter Bench,  8ft.  icicle;   W,  W,   Walks,  2ft.  wide;  S,  S,  Smoke- 
flue  ;  C  F,  Furnace,  with  Chimney  above. 

so  that  the  heat  may  be  evenly  diffused  throughout.  This 
is  our  favorite  style  of  greenhouse  to  heat  by  a  flue,  and 
such  as  is  now  mostly  used  by  beginners  ;  it  would,  in  this 
locality,  at  present  prices,  if  built  of  wood,  cost  about  $400. 
If  a  difference  in  temperature  is  required  in  a  house  of  this 
kind,  it  may  be  obtained  by  running  a  glass  partition 
across  the  house,  say  at  twenty-five  feet  from  the  furnace 
and,  which  will,  of  course,  make  that  end  the  hottest. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  principle  set  forth  in  my  article  of 
November,  1874,  is  carried  out  in  both  these  plans,  and  it 
would  be  unsafe  to  attempt  to  heat  greenhouses  of  these  di- 
mensions without  conforming  to  it.  Its  peculiarity  consists 
in  running  the  flue,  in  each  case,  back  to  the  furnace 
from  which  it  starts  and  into  the  chimney,  whicl*  is  buiU 


86  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

on  the  top  of  the  furnace,  not  in  the  furnace,  as  some 
have  supposed.  As  soon  as  a  fire  is  lighted  in  the 
furnace,  the  brick-work  forming  the  arch  gets  heated, 
and  at  once  starts  an  upward  draft,  which  puts  the 
smoke-flue  into  immediate  action  and  maintains  it ; 
hence  there  is  never  any  trouble  about  the  draft,  as  in 
ordinary  flues  having  the  chimney  at  the  most  distant 
point  from  the  furnace.  By  this  plan  we  not  only  get  rid 
of  the  violent  heat  given  out  by  the  furnace,  bub  at  the 
same  time  it  ensures  a  complete  draft,  the  heated  air  from 
the  furnace  being  rapidly  carried  through  the  entire 
length  of  the  flue,  so  that  it  is  nearly  as  hot  when  it  enters 
the  chimney  as  when  it  leaves  the  furnace.  This  perfect 
draft,  also  does  away  with  all  danger  of  the  escape  of  gas 
from  the  flues  into  the  greenhouse,  which  often  happens 
when  the  draft  is  not  active.  Although  no  system  of 
heating  by  smoke-flues  is  so  satisfactory  as  by  hot  water, 
yet  there  are  hundreds  who  have  neither  the  means  nor 
the  inclination  to  go  to  the  greater  expense  of  hot  water 
heating,  and  to  such,  this  revived  method  is  one  that  will, 
to  a  great  extent,  simplify  and  cheapen  the  erection  of 
greenhouses.  Many  old-established  florists,  who  have 
had  the  old  plan  of  flues  in  use,  have  changed  them  to 
the  one  here  described,  and  with  great  satisfaction.  The 
wonder  is  that  such  an  important  fact  has  been  so  long 
overlooked,  for  at  the  time  it  was  discovered,  heating 
greenhouses  by  flues  was  almost  the  only  method  in  use. 
In  constructing  the  furnace  for  flue  heating,  the  size 
of  the  furnace  doors  should  be,  for  a  greenhouse  twenty 
by  fifty,  about  fourteen  inches  square,  and  the  length  of 
the  furnace  bars  thirty  inches ;  the  furnace  should  be 
arched  over,  and  the  top  of  the  inside  of  the  arch  should 
be  about  twenty  inches  from  the  bar.  The  flue  will 
always  draw  better  if  slightly  on  the  ascent  throughout 
its  entire  length.  It  should  be  elevated  in  all  cases  from 
the  ground,  on  flags  or  bricks,  so  that  its  heat  may  be 


GREENHOUSE  STRUCTURES.  87 

given  out  on  all  sides.  The  inside  measure  of  the  brick 
flue  should  not  be  less  than  eight  by  fourteen  inches.  If 
tiles  can  be  conveniently  procured,  they  are  best  to  cover 
with  ;  but,  if  not,  the  top  of  the  flue  may  be  contracted 
to  six  inches,  and  covered  with  bricks. 

After  the  flue  has  been  built  of  brick  to  twenty-five  or 
thirty  feet  from  the  furnace,  cement  or  vitrified  drain 
pipes,  eight  or  nine  inches  in  diameter,  should  be  used,  as 
they  are  not  only  cheaper,  but  radiate  the  heat  quicker 
than  the  bricks  ;  they  are  also  much  easier  constructed 
and  cleaned.  Care  should  be  taken  that  no  woodwork  is 
in  contact  with  the  flue  at  any  place.  It  should  be  taken 
as  a  safe  rule,  that  woodwork  should  in  no  case  be  nearer 
the  flue  or  furnace  than  eight  inches.  In  constructing, 
do  not  be  influenced  by  what  the  mechanics  will  tell  you, 
as  few  of  them  have  any  experience  in  such  matters,  and 
are  not  able  to  judge  of  the  dangers  resulting  from  wood- 
work being  in  close  contact  with  the  heated  bricks. 

On  one  occasion  I  had  in  use  two  houses  heated  with 
flues  each  about  100  feet  in  length.  The  chimneys  had 
been  made  of  wood,  and  they  had  been  safely  used  for 
three  winters,  but  on  the  occasion  of  a  severe  storm  in 
winter,  when  our  fires  were  going  at  full  blast,  both  of 
them  took  fire  within  an  hour  of  each  other,  though  fully 
100  feet  from  the  furnace.  Fortunately  the  chimneys 
had  been  attached  to  the  outside  of  the  house,  and  were 
knocked  off  without  material  injury  being  done.  On 
another  occasion,  a  house  containing  upwards  of  10,000 
plants  took  fire  by  a  workman  placing  kindling  wood  on 
the  flue  near  the  furnace.  The  result  was  great  injury 
to  the  greenhouse,  and  total  destruction  of  its  contents. 
I  mention  these  cases,  to  show  the  necessity  of  the  utmost 
caution.  Every  winter  there  are  are  hundreds  of  fires 
originating  in  greenhouses  by  the  woodwork  taking  fire 
either  from  smoke  flues,  or  when  the  heating  is  done  by 


88  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

hot  water.  In  the  case  of  hot  water  the  dangerous  point 
is  from  the  smoke  pipe,  which  is  in  many  cases  placed 
under  the  beams  that  support  the  flooring  that  covers 
the  furnace  pit.  In  all  such  cases  the  beams  should  be 
covered  with  asbestos,  and  an  air  space  of  at  least  nine 
inches  left  between  the  beams  and  the  smoke  pipe.  In 
our  own  establishment  all  our  furnace  pits  are  covered 
over  with  railroad  iron  for  beams,  over  which  brick 
arches  are  sprung  ;  even  the  ladders  used  to  get  down  to 
the  boilers  are  iron,  thus  using  every  precaution  against 
fire.  This,  though  somewhat  costly,  is  in  the  end  much 
cheaper  than  insurance,  for  thus  protected  there  is  hardly 
a  possibility  of  damage  from  fire.  Our  greenhouse 
establishment  was  begun  in  1848,  nearly  forty  years  ago, 
and  yet  in  all  that  time  our  total  loss  from  fire  was  con- 
fined to  the  loss  of  the  10,000  plants  above  alluded,  to 
which  at  the  season  of  the  year  it  occurred  was  replaced 
at  an  expense  of,  perhaps,  1200. 

The  Cost  of  Construction  must  necessarily  be  only 
approximate,  according  to  the  manner  in  which  the  work 
is  done,  when  done,  and  the  ever-changing  cost  of  material 
and  labor.  At  this  date,  1887,  greenhouses,  as  shown  in 
figure  16,  when  finished  and  heated  by  hot  water,  com- 
plete, would  cost  in  this  vicinity  about  $15  per  running 
foot;  if  by  steam,  $13  per  running  foot,  or  by  flues,  $9  per 
running  foot,  less  or  more  according  to  the  extent — less  if 
joined  in  blocks  of  three  attached  than  when  built  singly. 

GREENHOUSES  ATTACHED  TO   DWELLINGS. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  inquiries  made  to  me  is  : 
"  How  can  I  attach  a  green-house  to  my  dwelling-house  ?" 
Nothing  is  more  simple,  so  far  as  the  greenhouse  is  con- 
cerned, but  the  difficulty  is  to  heat  a  small  structure  of 
this  kind.  Many  may  not  know  that  even  in  this  latitude, 


GREEHHOUSE  STRUCTURES. 


8!) 


a  greenhouse  without  artificial  heat  can  be  made  very 
useful,  in  fact,  even  better  in  inexperienced  hands,  than 
one  that  is  heated,  if  not  used  before  the  end  of  April ; 
after  that  date,  glass  protection  alone  is  sufficient  for 
nearly  all  kinds  of  bedding  plants. 

In  the  diagram  of  an  end  section  of  a  simple  house, 
figure  22,  the  sashes  (B  and  C)  are  three  feet  wide  by  six 
long ;  the  top  one  is  so  placed  that  it  can  be  let  down  over 


Fig.    22.— SECTION  OF  A  CHEAP  GREENHOUSE. 

the  lower  one  by  weights  and  pulleys,  and  thus  secure  ven- 
tilation. 

A  greenhouse  of  this  kind,  twenty-five  feet  long  by 
eleven  feet  wide,  should  not  cost  more  than  $100  com- 
plete, if  plainly  built  ;  that  is,  without  heating.  Heat- 
ing is  a  difficult  matter  in  greenhouses  so  attached  to 
dwellings,  unless  in  cases  where  there  is  a  surplus  heat 
at  right,  from  furnaces  or  stoves  in  the  rooms  adjoining. 
In  such  cases,  the  windows  or  doors,  if  low  enough,  could 


90  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

be  opened,  and  enough  heat  be  supplied  from  the  rooms 
of  the  dwelling  ;  or,  better  yet,  if  it  were  so  arranged  that 
a  register  from  the  furnace  opened  into  the  floor  of  the 
greenhouse.  But  when  this  supply  of  artificial  heat  can- 
not be  obtained,  the  greenhouse  as  it  is,  will  be  sufficient 
to  protect  plants  against  any  frost  that  is  likely  to  occur 
in  this  latitude  after  April  20th,  particularly  if  light 
wooden  shutters  are  put  over  the  lower  tier  of  sashes.  I 
have  recommended  this  style  of  greenhouse  to  many 
dealers  and  retail  florists  in  the  different  States.  Those 
who  are  simply  dealers  in  plants,  experience  great  diffi- 
culty and  loss  in  keeping  what  they  purchase  for  sale,  in 
stores  or  dwelling  rooms  ;  for  if  not  sold  at  once,  they 
quickly  get  injured.  But  this  cheap  and  simple  style  of 
greenhouse,  not  only  by  its  appearance  advertises  their 
business  as  dealers  in  flowers,  but  it  enables  them  to  buy 
from  the  wholesale  florists  at  an  earlier  season.  Besides 
this,  they  can  purchase  in  March  and  April,  at  less  than 
half  what  the  same  plants  would  cost  in  May,  and  it  gives  • 
them  time  to  repot  into  larger  pots.  Placing  them  in  the 
greenhouse,  where  they  have  sufficient  space  to  grow,  the 
plants  that  are  bought  for  $5  per  100  in  March,  with  but 
little  trouble  in  potting,  airing  and  watering,  will  freely 
retail  for  twenty-five  cents  each  in  May.  These  green- 
houses are  also  economical  and  useful  to  the  amateur  who 
purchases  for  his  flower  garden  in  the  spring.  Bedding- 
plants,  as  they  are  called,  cannot  be  safely  planted  out  in 
Uie  Northern  States  until  the  middle  of  May,  and  if  the 
amateur  buys  from  the  florist  then,  he  generally  pays 
quite  double  the  price  that  he  could  purchase  the  same 
plants  for  in  March  or  April,  for  the  florist  always  wants 
room  in  his  greenhouses,  and  can  better  afford  to  sell  a 
dozen  Geraniums  in  March  for  seventy-five  cents  than  for 
$1.50  in  May.  Besides,  the  plants  if  purchased  in  March, 
and  shifted  into  larger  pots,  and  allowed  plenty  of  room 
to  grow,  would  be  far  better  than  could  be  purchased  at 


GREENHOUSE  STRUCTURES.  91 

any  price  from  the  overcrowded  tables  of  the  florists  in 
May.  The  care  of  such  plants  in  the  greenhouse  is  very 
simple.  The  board  benches  or  tables,  E  and  G,  should  be 
covered  with  two  inches  of  sand,  upon  which  to  stand  the 
pots ;  place  them  so  far  apart  that  the  leaves  will  not 
touch  ;  water  thoroughly  whenever  the  surface  of  the  soil 
in  the  pot  appears  dry,  which  will  be  every  day  in  hot 
weather.  Ventilate  by  letting  down  the  sashes,  more  or 
less,  as  the  day  is  warm  or  cold,  whenever  the  thermom- 
eter indicates  seventy-five  or  eighty  degrees ;  in  other 
words,  keep  the  temperature  in  the  day-time  as  near  as 
may  be  to  sixty  or  sixty-five  degrees,  as  marked  by  a  ther- 
mometer in  the  greenhouse  where  the  sun  will  not  strike 
it.  Burn  half  a  pound  of  damp  tobacco  stems  on  the 
floor  of  the  greenhouse  twice  a  week,  to  destroy  the  aphis. 
One  dealer  in  Maine  informed  me,  that  from  a  greenhouse 
so  constructed,  thirty  feet  long  by  eleven  feet  wide,  placed 
against  the  south  side  of  a  high  board  fence,  he  sold  in 
six  weeks,  sufficient  bedding- plants  that  he  had  purchased, 
and  vegetable  plants  that  he  had  raised  from  seed,  to  af- 
ford him  a  profit  of  $200,  or  nearly  double  the  cost  of  his 
greenhouse. 

A  greenhouse  attached  to  a  dwelling,  instead  of  being 
covered  with  glass,  may  be  covered  by  stretching  the 
"protecting  cloth"  already  alluded  to  over  the  rafters, 
which  would  give  light  enough  and  give  sufficient  pro- 
tection to  any  kind  of  plants  by  May  1st.  A  greenhouse 
twenty-five  feet  by  eleven,  so  covered,  could  be  built  for 
$50,  attached  to  a. wall  or  dwelling,  and  plants  would  do 
quite  as  well  in  it  in  May  or  June,  as  if  covered  by  glass  ; 
no  ventilation  is  needed  when  the  protecting  cloth  is 
used.  There  are  now  hundreds  beginning  the  florist's  bus- 
iness, by  buying  a  few  plants  to  sell  in  spring,  that  would 
find  their  profits  doubled  by  the  use  of  this  very  cheap 
style  of  a  greenhouse  ;  the  covering  by  the  protecting 
cloth  would  cost  only  about  one-tenth  that  of  the  glass 


92  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

covering.  A  glass  sash  three  by  six  feet  costs  from  $2.50 
to  13,  while  a  "sash"  of  the  same  size,  made  of  the  pro* 
tecting  cloth,  would  cost  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents. 
The  covering  by  protecting  cloth,  however,  could  not  be 
very  well  used,  in  winter,  as  it  would  not  sustain  a  weight 
of  snow,  but  it,  might  be  used  to  great  advantage  in  the 
Southern  States. 

These  greenhouses  can  also  be  used  for  all  the  purposes 
of  a  hot-bed,  thus:  Soil  placed  to  the  thickness  of  four 
inches  on  the  benches  will  grow  fine  plants  of  all  varieties 
of  vegetables,  if  the  proper  time  in  sowing  the  different 
kinds  is  attended  to — presuming  that  the  greenhouse  has 
no  artificial  heat  or  other  than  that  produced  by  the  sun's 
rays  which  pass  through  the  glass.  In  this  latitude,  Cab- 
bage, Cauliflower  and  Lettuce  seed  had  better  be  sown 
about  the  15th  of  March.  By  attention  to  ventilating  and 
watering,  fine  plants  may  be  had  in  five  or  six  weeks  from 
time  of  sowing,  which  will  just  bring  them  into  the  proper 
season  for  planting  in  open  ground.  Tomatoes,  Pepper, 
and  Egg-plant,  and  the  tenderer  kinds  of  flower  seeds, 
should  not  be  sown  much  sooner  than  the  end  of  April. 
True,  they  would  not  be  so  early  as  if  sown  a  month  sooner 
in  a  hot-bed,  and  replanted  into  the  greenhouse  bench 
in  May,  but  if  no  hot-bed  is  at  hand,  the  protection  of 
the  greenhouse  over  these  tender  plants  in  May  will  give 
satisfactory  results,  if  earliness  is  not  particularly  desired. 

I  have  so  many  inquiries  about  the  heating  and  general 
construction  of  cheap  greenhouses,  that  I  am  compelled 
to  give  instructions  which  are  known  now  to  nearly  every 
one  in  and  around  our  large  cities.  Yet,  simple  though 
the  matter  may  be  to  us  who  see  so  much  of  it,  it  is  evi- 
dently perplexing  enough,  when  they  come  to  construct, 
for  those  who  have  nothing  to  copy  from.  Those  of  us 
who  write  on  such  subjects  too  often  take  for  granted  that 
those  for  whom  we  write  know  something  about  the  mat- 
ter,  when  for  the  most  part  they  really  know  nothing. 


WIDE   G^BZlTnOUC-   AND   KOSE   HOUSE.  93 

The  cheapest  kind  of  construction  is  the  lean-to  just 
described,  that  is,  where  there  is  anything  to  lean  it 
against,  such  as  the  gable  of  house  or  barn.  But  if  the 
greenhouse  has  to  be  constructed  entirely  new,  I  think 
the  span-roof  is  best — see  figure  23.  The  roof  can  be 
formed  by  the  ordinary  three  by  six  feet  sashes,  placed  as 
shown  on  figure  22,  "  Section  of  a  Cheap  Greenhouse,"  or 
what  is  better  and  which  is  the  plan  now  in  general  use, 
is  to  make  the  roof  fixed,  using  bars  one  by  two  inches, 
in  which  the  glass  is  laid.  For  ordinary  greenhouse  work 
the  glass  used  is  eight  by  ten  inches,  put  in  the  ten-inch 
way,  but  for  Rose  forcing  houses,  or  for  other  plants  grown 
for  flowers  in  winter,  a  larger  size  glass  should  be  used — 
say,  twelve  by  sixteen  inches,  put  in  the  twelve-inch  way. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

WIDE    GREENHOUSES    FOR    BEDDING   PLANTS   AND 
ROSE    GROWING. 

The  plans  and  descriptions  of  greenhouses  given  in  the 
preceding  pages,  have  been  mainly  for  nan-ow  green- 
houses eleven  feet  wide,  but  further  experience  has  led 
me  to  believe  that  the  wide  greenhouse,  twenty  feet  wide, 
is  for  general  purposes  better  than  the  narrow.  The  most 
approved  plan  of  greenhouse  for  growing  bedding  plants 
for  commercial  purposes  is  that  shown  by  figure  23, 
which  usually  average  twenty  feet  in  width,  and  are  of  a 
uniform  length  of  100  feet.  Of  course,  the  length  is  a 
matter  of  convenience,  but  the  width  we  find  is  an  im- 
portant point  to  consider ;  for  if  over  twenty  feet  the 
benches  are  too  wide  to  reach  easily,  and  if  under  twenty 
feet,  room  is  lost  by  the  necessity  of  having  two  walks  in 
a  narrow  space.  Figure  24  shows  the  inside  arrangement 
of  this  style  of  greenhouse  as  we  have  it  in  use.  One 


PRACTICAL   FLOEICULTUEE. 


section  shows  a  bench  in  the 
middle,  the  other  either  a 
solid  bed  of  soil  or  a  raised 
bench,  as  desired.  The  scale 
(one-eighth  of  an  inch  to 
the  foot)  will  give  the  height 
of  the  walls,  benches,  etc. 

These  greenhouses  are 
joined  together  on  the  ridge 
and  furrow  plan,  having 
one  slope,  to  the  west  and 
the  other  slope  to  the  east ; 
but  if  wanted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  growing  rose-buds 
in  winter,  or,  in  short,  for 
almost  any  kind  of  plank 
grown  for  the  flowers  dur- 
ing the  winter  months,  this 
style  of  greenhouse  (that 
shown  by  figure  23)  is  not 
so  well  suited,  as  it  is  found 
that,  when  joined  on  the 
ridge  and  furrow  plan,  they 
shade  each  other  in  the  dull 
winter  months,  and  that 
there  is  not  sufficient  light 
for  the  best  development  of 
flowers,  so  that  we  now  find 
that  for  all  kinds  of  flower- 
ing plants,  Roses  particular- 
ly, the  greenhouse  struc- 
ture should  stand  alone, 
leaving  an  empty  space  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen  feet  be- 
tween the  houses,  and  be 
of  the  style  known  as  the 


WIDE   GREENHOUSE   AND   ROSE   HOUSE.  9ft 

three-quarter  span  ;  that  is,  having  an  angle  of  about 
thirty-two  degrees  to  the  horizon  to  the  south,  and  an 
angle  of  thirty-six  or  thirty-eight  degrees  to  the  north, 
as  shown  by  figure  25,  which  is  on  the  same  scale. 

For  the  same  reason  (the  necessity  of  sunlight  in  win' 
ter),  the  woodwork  should  be  made  as  light  as  possible 
consistent  with  strength,  and  for  this  purpose  I  prefer  to 
use  well-seasoned  yellow  pine,  as  it  has  more  strength,  in 


ffSPWBfl^MftJf<^ 

ytim^vmrJi 

a 

Fi£.  24.— ROSE  HOUSE,  END  SECTION.— {Scale  »/8  of  an  inch  to  the  foot) 

proportion  to  bulk,  than  white  pine.  It  is  also  necessary 
to  use  glass  not  less  than  ten  by  twelve  inches,  put  in  the 
twelve-inch  way.  Many  now  use  twelve  by  sixteen  inches, 
put  in  the  twelve-inch  way.  This  style  of  greenhouse  is 
now  preferred  for  forcing  Lettuce,  Strawberries,  and  other 
fruits  and  vegetables  in  winter,  as  well  as  flowering  plants, 
as  thej  too,  require  all  the  light  that  it  is  possible  to  ob- 
tain. 

Although  this  style  of  greenhouse  would  also  shade,  if 
joined  together  on  the  ridge  and  furrow  plan,  when  built 
on  level  ground,  yet,  whenever  a  convenient  location  can 
be  had,  where  the  ground  slopes  to  the  south  at  an  angle 
of  ten  or  fifteen  degrees,  they  may  be  joined  together,  as 


PRACTICAL  FLOBICULTUfiE. 


WIDE  GREENHOUSE  AND   ROSE   HOUSE.  97 

seen  in  figure  25  (one-eight  of  an  inch  to  the  foot  scale), 
which  shows  a  slope  or  angle  of  fifteen  degrees. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  this  design  (figure  25)  that  the 
larger  number  of  pipes  are  placed  under  the  front  bench, 
there  being  four  there,  while  there  are  only  two  under  the 
back  bench.  The  slope  of  the  ground  makes  this  arrange- 
ment necessary  in  order  to  secure  an  equal  distribution 
of  heat.  It  will  be  observed  that  there  are  six  "runs" 
of  four-inch  pipe  for  each  house;  this  will  give  a  temper- 
ature of  fifty  degrees  at  night  in  the  coldest  weather.  If 
a  higher  temperature  is  wanted,  an  additional  "  run  "  of 
pipe  should  be  added  for  every  five  degrees.  For  fur- 
ther information  see  "  Modes  of  Heating,"  page  98. 
With  the  ordinary  arrangement  of  pipes  (half  under 
each  bench),  the  back  of  the  house  would  always  be 
much  the  warmest,  as  a  moment's  reflection  will  make 
manifest.  The  position  of  the  ventilators  near  the  ridge 
is  distinctly  marked  in  this  and  all  the  other  figures,  the 
dotted  lines  showing  a  ventilator  raised  or  open.  The 
position  of  the  benches  is  also  shown.  Through  the  mid- 
dle there  may  be  either  a  bench  or  a  solid  bed  of  earth. 
By  use  of  the  scale  (one-eighth  of  an  inch  to  the  foot)  the 
proportions  of  the  details  of  this  house  may  be  readily 
obtained. 

The  construction  of  greenhouses  when  formed  of  con- 
crete, stone,  or  brick,  is  not  only  more  costly,  but  after 
the  wall  has  risen  to  the  surface  of  the  ground,  it  is  found 
that,  unless  the  wall  of  stone  or  brick  is  very  thick  indeed, 
the  high  temperature  and  moisture  inside  of  a  greenhouse 
soon  injures  the  mason  work  by  warring  with  the  low 
temperature  outside,  particularly  on  the  north  or  north- 
west side.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  found  that  woodeii 
walls,  for  ordinary  purposes,  are  equally  as  good  as  an 
eight-inch  brick  wall  for  resisting  cold,  far  cheaper,  and 
more  durable. 

A  common  error  with  the  Inexperienced  is  to  build  the 


98  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

wooden  wall  of  a  greenhouse  hollow,  filling  up  the  space 
with  sawdust,  or  some  such  non-conducting  material. 
The  method  found  best  is  to  sink  locust,  cedar,  or  chest- 
nut posts  to  the  required  depth,  and  at  distances  of  four 
or  six  feet  apart ;  against  these  (outside)  nail  common 
rough  boards ;  then  against  these  tack  asphalt  or  tarred 
paper,  and  against  that  nail  the  ordinary  weather  board- 
ing. Such  a  wall  will  resist  cold  better  than  an  eight- 
inch  brick  wall,  and  will  last  for  twenty  years,  if  kept 
painted.  If  a  better  finish  is  desired  inside,  the  posts  can 
be  hid  by  weather  boarding  ;  but  nothing  should  be  put 
in  to  fill  the  space.  When  the  walls  have  been  finished 
to  the  required  height,  the  wall  plate  to  secure  the  rafters 
is  laid  on.  Supporting  posts  should  be  placed  under  the 
ridge-pole,  and  also  near  the  middle  of  the  rafters,  where 
these  are  very  long,  as  is  the  case  in  many  of  the  three- 
quarter  span  houses.  At  present  prices,  the  cost  of  a 
Rose  House,  as  shown  in  figure  24,  is  about  $15  per  run- 
ning foot,  heated  by  hot  water  or  steam,  complete,  or 
$1,500. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
GLASS,  GLAZING  AND  SHADING. 

If  for  winter  forcing  of  either  fruit  or  flowers,  the 
glass  should  (as  we  have  before  said)  be  not  less  than  ten 
by  twelve  inches  in  size,  and  laid  in  the  twelve-inch  way. 
It  should  be  of  what  is  known  as  second  quality  French, 
and  it  is  economy  always  to  use  the  double  thick.  All 
panes  should  be  rejected  having  flaws  or  "  blebs,"  as  these 
will  act  like  lenses,  and,  forming  a  rocus  for  the  sun's 
rays,  will  burn  the  leaves  of  the  plants  ;  but  even  with  the 
greatest  care,  some  flav:s  will  usually  remain,  and  less  or 


GLASS   AND   BLAZING.  99 

more  burn  the  leaves  after  the  sun  becomes  strong ;  to 
counteract  this,  a  slight  shading  had  better  be  used  on 
the  glass  from  April  to  September.  We  use  naphtha, 
with  just  enough  white  lead  mixed  in  it  to  give  it  the 
appearance  of  thin  milk.  This  we  put  on  with  a  syringe, 
which  sufficiently  covers  up  all  flaws  in  the  glass  to  pre- 
vent burning,  and  at  the  same  time  tends  to  cool  the 
house  by  mitigating  the  violence  of  the  sun's  rays.  This 
is  by  far  the  cheapest  and  best  shading  we  have  ever  used. 
It  can  be  gradated  to  any  degree  of  thickness,  and  costs 
only  about  twenty-five  cents  per  1,000  square  feet  of  glass, 
for  material  and  labor. 

In  glazing,  the  method  now  almost  universally  adopted 
is  to  bed  the  glass  in  putty,  and  tack  it  on  top  with 
glazier's  points,  using  no  putty  on  the  top.  The  glazier's 
points  are  triangular,  one  corner  of  which  is  turned  down, 
so  that  when  it  is  driven  in,  it  fits  the  lower  edge  of  each 
pane  and  prevents  it  from  slipping  down.  A  great  mis- 
take is  often  made  in  giving  the  glass  too  much  lap  ;  it 
should  only  be  given  just  enough  to  cover  the  edge  of  the 
pane  (from  one-eighth  to  one-fourth  of  an  inch).  If 
given  too  much,  the  water  gets  in  between  the  panes,  and 
when  it  freezes  it  cracks  the  glass. 

Although  no  putty  is  used  on  the  top  of  the  bars,  we 
have  found  it  an  excellent  plan  to  fill  an  ordinary  oil-can, 
such  as  is  used  for  machinery,  with  white  lead  and  oil, 
and  by  its  narrow-pointed  funnel  run  a  thin  stream  of 
the  white  lead  at  the  edge  where  the  glass  fits  against  the 
bar;  by  shaking  dry  sand  over  this,  it  forms  a  cement  that 
will  hold  for  many  years.  We  find  this,  even  on  old  green- 
houses, to  be  an  excellent  plan  for  closing  up  leakage  and 
firming  the  glass.  Had  I  known  of  this  most  excellent 
method  of  glazing  twenty  years  ago,  I  would  have  saved 
at  least  $10,000  that  it  has  cost  me  in  that  time  for 
repairs. 


100  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

OHAPTEK    XIX. 
MODES  OF  HEATING. 

Until  the  past  few  years  the  almost  universal  plan  of 
heating  commercial  greenhouses  was  by  hot  water,  and 
as  that  plan  has  yet  many  advocates,  we  herewith  give 
some  of  the  leading  points  to  observe  when  it  is  used ; 
further  on,  we  will  refer  to  steam  heating  as  now  being 
adopted  in  many  large  establishments. 

In  heating  by  hot  water,  it  is  important  that  the  work 
be  given  to  some  reputable  firm,  whose  knowledge  is  such 
as  will  enable  them  not  only  to  judge  what  is  the  proper 
capacity  of  the  boiler  for  the  number  of  pipes  to  be  used, 
but  also  hew  many  pipes  are  necessary  to  be  used  for  the 
surface  of  glass  to  be  heated.  Men  who  have  done  a 
large  business  in  heating  greenhouses,  have  far  better 
opportunities  for  knowledge  in  this  matter  than  the  aver- 
age gardener  or  florist ;  and  if  those  erecting  greenhouses 
have  not  had  extensive  and  varied  practice,  they  had 
better  be  guided  by  the  men  who  make  a  business  of  heat- 
ing, as  the  want  of  the  requisite  knowledge  of  these 
matters  often  works  serious  mischief.  Of  course,  the 
size  of  the  greenhouse  or  greenhouses  to  be  heated  must 
determine  the  capacity  of  the  boiler  required  ;  but  the 
boiler  being  properly  apportioned  to  the  length  of  pipe, 
the  following  data,  used  in  our  own  establishment 
(which  is  mostly  heated  by  hot  water),  may  be  useful. 
In  our  houses,  which  are  twenty  feet  wide  and  one  hun- 
dred feet  long,  when  a  night  temperature  of  seventy  de- 
grees is  required  in  the  coldest  weather,  ten  runs  or  rows 
of  four-inch  pipe,  five  on  each  side,  are  required ;  when 
sixty  degrees  is  wanted,  eight  runs  of  pipe,  four  on  each 
side ;  when  fifty  degrees  is  wanted,  six  runs  of  pipe  will 
be  needed;  and  when  only  thirty-five  or  forty  degrees  is 


HEATING    BY   STEAM.  101 

required,  four  runs  of  pipe  will  meet  the  requirement. 
This  is  for  the  latitude  of  New  York  City,  where  the 
temperature  rarely  falls  lower  than  ten  degrees  below  zero. 
Latitudes  north  or  south  of  New  York  should  be  graded 
accordingly.  If  estimated  by  glass  surface,  about  one 
foot  in  length  of  four-inch  pipe  is  necessary  for  every 
three  and  a  half  square  feet  of  glass  surface,  when  the 
temperature  is  at  ten  degrees  below  zero,  to  keep  a  tem- 
perature of  50  degrees  in  the  greenhouse.  We  now  place 
all  our  pipes  under  the  side  benches,  as  that  enables  us  to 
use  the  space  under  the  middle  bench  for  safely  stowing 
away  many  plants,  which  otherwise  could  not  be  done  if 
the  pipes  were  there.  There  are  scores  of  kinds  of  hot 
water  boilers  in  use,  and  our  opinion  is  repeatedly  asked 
as  to  the  relative  merits  of  many  of  them.  This  can  only 
be  determined  by  a  comparative  test,  which  we  have 
never  had  time  or  inclination  to  try.  We  have  used  the 
boilers  made  by  Hitchings  &  Co.  for  the  past  twenty 
years  with  the  most  satisfactory  results.  There  may  be 
better,  but  we  do  not  know  them,  and  do  not  care  to  take 
the  risk  of  experimenting. 


CHAPTER     XX. 
HEATING  BY  STEAM. 

Two  years  ago,  to  satisfy  myself  of  the  relative  merits 
of  hot  water  and  steam  heating  for  greenhouse  purposes, 
I  erected  a  Rose  house  twenty  feet  wide  by  350  feet  in 
length.  This  I  heated  by  steam  alongside  of  another 
Rose  house  of  exactly  the  same  dimensions,  heated  by  hot 
water.  These  have  given  me  an  opportunity  for  a  com- 
parative test  and  we  find  the  result  in  favor  of  steam  ; 


133  PltACTlCAL  FLORICULTUEE. 

first,  that  it  saves  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  fuel ;  second, 
that  our  firemen  say  that  the  steam  boilers  require  less 
labor,  and,  third,  that  the  steam  pipes  by  the  use  of  valves 
are  easier  controlled  than  the  hot  water  pipes.  But, 
above  all,  is  the  certainty  that,  on  a  large  scale  at  least, 
heating  by  steam  must  be  cheaper  than  by  hot  water. 
Leaving  out  the  question  of  the  cost  of  boilers,  which  ought 
to  be  relatively  the  same  for  the  amount  of  work  to  be 
done,  we  find  that  a  one  and  one-quarter  inch  pipe,  when 
heated  by  steam,  does  almost  exactly  the  same  amount  of 
work  as  a  four-inch  hot  water  pipe  ;  at  present  prices  the 
one  and  one-quarter  inch  steam  pipe  costs  six  cents  per 
foot,  while  the  four-inch  hot  water  pipe  costs  twenty 
cents.  Thus,  the  piping  costs  three  times  more  for  hot 
water  than  for  steam,  but  so  far  there  has  been  compara- 
tively little  difference  in  estimates  between  the  two,  owing 
probably  to  the  steam  heating  of  greenhouses  being  yet 
in  but  few  hands.  From  our  experience  with  steam,  I 
believe  that  whenever  greenhouses  are  erected  to  the 
extent  of  5,000  square  feet  of  glass  surface,  steam  should 
be  used  in  preference  to  hot  water  ;  if  for  smaller  areas,  it 
may  be  that  hot  water  would  be  best.  As  far  as  the 
health  of  plants  is  concerned,  there  is  nothing  to  choose, 
for  although  a  steam  pipe  at  low  pressure  radiates  at  from 
212  and  over,  and  a  hot  water  pipe  at  about  an  average  of 
170  degrees,  yet  at  six  inches  from  either  pipe  the  tem- 
perature is  almost  identical,  radiation  is  so  rapid.  Any 
one  doubting  this  can  easily  test  it  l>y  vhe  thermometer. 


BASE-BURNING   WATER-HEATEE. 


103 


CHAPTER     XXI. 
BASE-BURNING  WATER-HEATER. 

For  many  years  a  great  want  has  been  felt  for  a  better 
means  of  heating  greenhouses,  or  rather  conservatories, 
attached  to  dwellings.  The  space  to  be  heated  is  usually 


Fig.   26.— BASE-BUBNEB. 


Fig.  27. — SECTION. 


so  small  that  the  ordinary  hot  water  boilers  in  use  for 
large  greenhouses  have  been  found  by  amateurs  too  compli- 
cated, and  to  require  too  much  attention.  Then,  when 
the  common  smoke-flue  was  tried,  corresponding  difficul- 
ties arose,  it  requiring  nearly  the  same  attention  as  the 


104 


PRACTICAL    FLORICULTURE. 


more  expensive  boiler.  Occasionally  these  conservatories 
are  heated  by  registers  from  the  furnace  heater,  just  as 
are  the  ordinary  rooms  of  the  dwelling  ;  but  I  have  rarely 
seen  any  so  heated  wherein  the  plants  looked  well,  it  being 
difficult  to  get  the  registers  so  placed  as  to  diffuse  the  heat 
evenly.  A  new  base-burning  water-heater  has  been  in- 


Fig.  38.—  SECTION  OF  HOUSE  AND  CONSERVATORY. 


vented  by  Hitchings  &  Co.,  the  well  known  greenhouse- 
heating  firm.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  principle-- 
nothing to  patent,  I  believe.  It  is  simply  making  the 
ordinary  base-burning  stove  to  so  heat  water  that  it  will 
circulate  in  iron  pipes  and  warm  a  small  greenhouse  o* 
conservatory  attached  to  a  dwelling  or  otherwise,  exactly 


BASE-BURNING   WATEIi-IIEATERS.  105 

as  do  our  large  boilers,  which  are  not  usually  made  on 
the  base-burning  principle.  The  patterns  they  have  thus 
far  made  (shown  in  figure  26  and  in  section  in  figure  27) 
are  forty-two  inches  high  and  twenty-one  inches  at  base, 
and  are  powerful  enough  to  heat  a  greenhouse  ten  feet 
wide  by  twenty-five  feet  long,  or  about  500  square  feet  of 
glass  surface,  taking  into  account  the  front  and  ends. 
The  complete  cost  of  heating,  including  boiler,  pipes  and 
fitting  up,  will  range  from  $150  to  $200.  The  care  nec- 
essary in  the  management  of  this  base-burning  water- 
heater  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  required  for  an  ordi- 
nary base-burning  stove ;  and  it  may  be  safely  left  for 
twelve  hours  without  attention,  and  will  keep  up  a  tem- 
perature in  the  house  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  degrees  at 
night,  which  is  about  what  is  required  for  a  general  col- 
lection of  plants.  Figure  28  shows  the  boiler  placed 
alongside  the  kitchen  range,  being  in  a  basement  and  one 
story  lower  than  the  conservatory.  It  can  either  be  used 
in  this  way,  or  placed  in  the  conservatory  itself  if  sc 
desired.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  though,  in  construct 
ing  a  conservatory,  that  it  must  be  placed  where  connec- 
tion can  be  made  with  a  chimney,  as  of  course  an  outlet 
must  be  had  for  smoke  exactly  as  in  any  ordinary  room 
where  a  stove  of  any  kind  is  used.  When  dwelling-houses 
are  heated  by  steam  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  heat  a  green- 
house that  is  attached  to  a  dwelling,  as,  of  course,  steam 
pipes  can  be  run  at  any  level  above  the  boiler.  Green- 
houses, if  need  be,  can  be  heated  from  the  steam  boiler 
in  the  dwelling,  even  if  hundreds  of  feet  distant,  always 
keeping  in  view  the  point  that,  if  extra  work  is  to  be  done 
by  the  boiler,  it  must  have  sufficient  power. 


106  PBACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    XXII. 
PROPAGATION  OF  PLANTS  BY  SEEDS. 

The  most  natural  way  of  increasing  plants  is  by  seeds, 
and,  whenever  practicable,  it  is  preferable  to  all  others. 
In  our  own  practice  we  rarely  increase  a  plant  in  any 
other  way,  if  we  can  procure  the  seed,  unless,  of  course, 
with  particular  varieties  that  we  know  will  not  reproduce 
themselves  from  seed,  and  perpetuate  the  desired  color, 
form,  or  markings.  It  is  believed  that  no  plant  ever 
produces  identically  the  same  individual  from  seed.  The 
resemblance  may  be  so  close  that,  to  casual  observation, 
it  may  seem  identical ;  but  reasoning  from  analogy,  it  is 
fair  to  presume  that  no  generated  organisms  of  animal  or 
vegetable  life,  whether  from  the  lowest  molecule  to  the 
highest  type  of  existence,  are  ever  identical.  No  two 
human  beings  are  ever  identical  in  face  or  form  ;  and 
even  acquired  habits,  such  as  handwriting,  are  never  the 
same. 

Some  species  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  when  under 
domestication,  become  what  is  technically  called  "bro- 
ken." Thus  we  find  the  pigeon,  when  domesticated,  run- 
ning into  a  great  variety  of  plumage,  while  its  proto- 
types of  the  woods  seem  to  be  all  alike  ;  but  it  is  fair  to 
presume  they  each  possess  a  distinct  individuality,  though 
less  apparent  than  the  others.  So  it  is  in  plant  life. 
When  we  sow  1,000  seeds  of  Verbena  or  Coleus,  to 
the  experienced  eye  no  two  of  the  seedlings  are  ever 
exactly  the  same,  though  the  original  types  from  which 
they  sprung  will  seem  to  produce  varieties  identical ; 
but  in  this  case  also  it  is  reasonable  to  presume  that 
a  distinct  individuality  is  present,  though  the  distinction 
is  so  slight  that  ordinary  observation  fails  to  mark  it. 
The  eye  requires  to  be  educated  to  nice  distinctions  of 


PROPAGATION   OF   PLANTS  BY  SEEDS.  107 

individuality.  Shepherds  in  charge  of  five  hundred  sheep 
can  often  individualize  every  member  of  the  flock,  which 
to  the  inexperienced  observer  seem  all  alike.  The  reader 
will  excuse  this  digression  ;  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
misconception  on  this  interesting  subject. 

In  all  cases  where  seed  taken  from  a  variety  or  species 
will  reproduce  itself  nearly  the  same,  as  in  special  colors 
of  Hollyhocks,  or,  in  cases  where  a  general  variety  is 
wanted,  as  in  Verbenas,  Petunias  or  Geraniums,  the  pro- 
pagation by  seed  is  largely  practised. 

Experience  only  can  give  the  necessary  knowledge  for 
the  full  understanding  of  the  proper  temperature  and 
humidity  essential  for  the  successful  germination  of  the 
seeds  of  different  plants.  It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  safe 
rule,  however,  that  for  the  hardier  varieties,  a  low  or 
medium  temperature  is  required,  say  from  forty-five  to 
sixty  degrees,  and  for  the  tender  species,  a  temperature 
from  seventy-five  to  ninety  degrees. 

If  Pansy  seed  is  sown  in  July  or  August,  where  the 
temperature  in  the  shade  averages  eighty  degrees,  no 
matter  how  moist  the  soil  is  kept,  if  germination  takes 
place  at  all  it  will  be  of  so  feeble  a  kind  that  the  seed- 
lings will  not  continue  a  healthy  existence  ;  but  if  the 
same  seed  were  sown  in  September  or  October,  with  an 
average  temperature  of,  say  sixty  degrees  in  the  shade,  a 
quick  and  healthy  germination  would  be  the  result.  The 
same  rule  applies  to  Cinerarias,  Calceolarias,  Auriculas, 
Primulas,  and  all  other  plants  of  this  half-hardy  nature. 
English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  gardeners,  before  they  have 
had  time  for  experience  in  this  country,  are  apt  to  fall 
into  the  common  error  of  sowing  all  these  seeds  too  soon. 
Though  it  is  proper  to  sow  these  seeds  in  July  and 
August  in  England,  with  us,  in  this  section,  it  must  be 
delayed  until  September  or  October,  and  in  warm  lati- 
tudes still  later,  or  failure  is  almost  certain  to  follow.  In 
our  own  practice  we  prefer  to  sow  all  such  seeds  in  March, 


108  PRACTICAL   FLOKICULTURE. 

April  or  May,  and  by  cramping  the  plants  in  shallow 
boxes  and  rather  poor  soil,  we  can  hold  them  so  that  they 
are  none  too  large  for  winter  work.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  we  attempt  to  germinate  Portulacas,  Balsams,  Ama- 
ranths, Zinnias,  or  other  plants  of  tropical  origin,  in  the 
medium  temperature  of  fifty  degrees,  they  will  either  re- 
main dormant  until  a  higher  temperature  occurs,  or 
perish.  Ignorance  of,  or  inattention  to,  these  conditions 
is  far  oftener  the  cause  of  failure  than  want  of  vitality 
in  seeds. 

Whether  seeds  are  sown  in  the  open  border,  in  the 
window  garden  of  the  parlor,  in  the  hot-bed,  or  green- 
house, the  same  conditions  should  be  observed,  so  far  as 
practicable.  In  the  open  border  there  is  not  always  a 
choice  of  soil,  but  if  soil  is  to  be  prepared,  let  it  be  of  a 
light  nature ;  leaf-mould  from  the  woods,  and  well- 
pulverized  muck  from  the  swamps,  or,  better  than  either 
of  these,  the  dust  of  cocoanut  fibre,  or  of  decayed,  refuse 
hops,  are  excellent  to  sift  on  as  a  covering  for  seeds.  We 
have  employed  these  latter  materials  exclusively,  as  a 
covering  for  seeds  of  all  kinds,  for  many  years,  with  re- 
sults which  have  been  vastly  superior  to  those  we  had 
when  we  did  not  use  them. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  seeds  do  not  so  much 
need  a  fertile  soil  at  first,  as  they  do  one  having  the  neces- 
sary mechanical  condition  ;  this  is  found  exactly  in  the 
light,  moisture-retaining  nature  of  hop-mould  or  cocoa- 
nut  dust.  We  can  give  no  better  rule  than  the  old  one 
of  covering  seeds  to  about  their  own  depth  with  mould, 
although  something  depends  on  the  weight  of  the  mate- 
rial with  which  they  are  covered.  One-fourth  of  an  inch 
in  depth  of  hop-mould,  or  leaf-mould,  would  be  no  more 
than  equivalent  to  half  that  depth  of  ordinary  loam  ; 
hence  the  advantage  in  using  it,  as  it  gives  the  seed  a 
moist,  springy  covering,  through  which  the  tiny  germ 
can  freely  push. 


PROPAGATION   OF   PLANTS   BY   SEEDS.  109 

We  know  it  is  a  practice,  very  common  with  amateurs 
and  many  gardeners,  when  starting  seeds  in  a  hot-bed  or 
greenhouse,  to  use  flower-pots  in  this  operation  ;  they  are 
generally  two-thirds  filled  with  potsherds,  overlaying 
which  is  an  inch  or  two  of  soil,  and  on  this  the  seed  is 
sown.  Any  continuation  of  dry  weather  necessitates 
almost  daily  watering  of  the  flower-pots  ;  this  bakes  or 
hardens  the  surface,  while  a  day's  inattention  to  them 
dries  the  soil  while  it  is  in  this  condition,  so  as  to  injure 
the  vitality  of  the  seeds  ;  hence  very  unsatisfactory  re- 
sults too  often  follow  this  practice. 

For  many  years  we  have  entirely  discarded  the  use  of 
earthen  flower-pots  or  pans  for  the  purpose  of  sowing 
seeds,  and  use  shallow  boxes  instead.  These  we  prepare 
by  cutting  the  common-sized  soap-box  into  three  pieces, 
each  one  of  a  depth  of  about  two  inches.  There  boxes 
are  filled  with  the  prepared  soil  to  the  depth  of  one  inch 
and  one-half,  which  is  gently  and  evenly  pressed,  so  as 
to  give  an  entirely  level  surface  ;  the  seeds  are  then  sown, 
and  a  light  covering,  from  one-sixteenth  to  one-fourth 
of  an  inch  thick,  according  to  the  size  or  strength  of 
seed,  is  sifted  over  them,  through  a  sieve  having  a  mesh 
only  one-tenth  of  an  inch.  The  covering  is  gently 
pressed  to  prevent  the  air  penetrating  the  loose  soil  and 
drying  up  the  seeds  ;  watering,  which  it  is  well  to  avoid 
as  much  as  possible,  is  thus  rendered  less  necessary.  Be 
careful,  however,  not  to  let  them  suffer  for  moisture,  as 
in  the  weak  condition  of  seedlings,  most  plants  are  quickly 
injured  by  neglect  of  this  kind,  and,  even  with  all  pos- 
sible care,  we  experience  serious  losses.  Many  varieties 
will  "damp  off,"  as  we  term  it,  just  as  the  first  rough 
leaves  are  being  formed  ;  this,  however,  is  not  the  result 
of  excessive  moisture,  as  it  occurs  just  as  quickly  in  a 
dry  temperature  as  in  a  moist  one.  It  is  evidently  caused 
by  the  same  insidious  spiderweb-like  substance  that  is 
known  among  gardeners  as  the  "fungus  of  the  cutting 


110  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

bench,"  and  is  probably  one  of  the  minute  fungi  of  which 
we  have  so  many  representatives.  The  best  preventive 
of  this  disease,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is,  just  as  soon 
as  the  seedling  plants  can  be  handled,  to  take  them  from 
the  seed-boxes,  and  prick  them  out  in  boxes  of  simi- 
lar mould,  from  one-half  to  two  inches  apart,  accord- 
ing to  the  variety.  This  is  a  much  better  method  than 
that  of  potting  them  off  in  flower-pots,  as  it  not  only 
saves  time  and  room,  but  they  always  do  better.  In  the 
flower-pots  they  are  liable  to  be  dried  up.  and  the  tender 
roots  of  the  seedling  plant  quickly  destroyed. 

We  use  these  shallow  boxes  largely  for  pricking  off  cut- 
tings from  our  propagating  benches,  instead  of  potting 
them  off,  particularly  such  plants  as  are  wanted  for  stock 
to  be  planted  out  in  the  open  ground,  as,  after  being 
rooted  in  the  cutting  bench  and  planted  out  in  these 
shallow  boxes,  they  can  there  remain,  occupying  less 
space,  and  in  every  respect  growing  as  well  as  if  in  pots. 
Carnations  and  Roses  we  work  largely  in  this  way. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

PROPAGATION   BY   SEEDS.— WHAT   VARIETIES   COME 
TRUE  FROM  SEEDS  ? 

An  intelligent  correspondent  asks  the  question  given 
above.  He  queries  still  farther  and  says  :  "  An  Apple 
seed  produces  an  Apple  tree,  but  a  Baldwin  Apple  seed 
will  not  produce  a  Baldwin  Apple  tree.  Wheat  of  any 
variety  produces  the  same ;  seed  of  a  scarlet  variety  of 
Verbena  will  not  always  produce  its  like.  Why 'this 
anomaly  ?"  The  "  why"  of  the  matter  cannot  be  told, 
but  a  few  general  rules  may  be  useful.  Seeds  of  plants 


WHAT  VARIETIES  COME   TRUE   FROM   SEEDS  ?       Ill 

in  the  wild  state,  in  their  native  habitats,  almost  invaria- 
bly produce  a  progeny  nearly  identical  with  the  parent  ; 
and  many  species,  even  after  they  have  been  subjected  to 
long  years  of  cultivation,  seemingly  never  appear  to 
change  in  the  slightest  degree.  Other  species  under  cul- 
tivation, quickly  develop  varieties  greatly  different  from 
the  original,  and  become  what  is  technically  termed 
"  broken."  Thus  the  original  species  of  our  well-known 
Verbena  is  indigenous  to  South  America,  having  a  com- 
paratively small  scarlet  flower.  From  this,  and  probably 
some  other  species  hybridized  with  it,  we  have  the  gor- 
geous and  varied  coloring  of  the  Verbenas  of  to-day.  But  it 
took  many  years  to  produce  these,  for  we  can  well  remem- 
ber that  in  our  early  gardening  days  there  was  no  white, 
and  the  furor  that  took  place  in  the  floricultural  world 
when  Verbena  teucrioides,  the  first  white,  appeared.  It  was 
far  from  being  an  attractive  plant,  but  the  color  was  novel, 
and  single  plants  were  sold  by  the  florists  of  that  time  at 
a  price  that  would  now  buy  a  hundred.  The  Verbena, 
then,  is  one  genus  of  which  the  species  have  given  us  in- 
numerable varieties.  The  Chrysanthemum,  Dahlia, 
Fuchsia,  Geranium,  Tulip,  Hyacinth,  Gladiolus,  Pansy, 
Petunia,  the  Rose,  and  many  others,  are  also  familiar 
examples  where  the  original  species  has  "broken"  from 
what  may  be  termed  its  primary  condition  into  everchang- 
ing  variety.  Thus  changed,  it  is  probable  that  their  seeds 
will  never  produce  two  individual  plants  exactly  alike. 
It  is  probable  that  all  species  of  animals  and  veg< 
etables,  under  long  years  of  domestication  and  culti- 
vation, would  ultimately  "break"  from  the  original 
type,  though  we  know  that  in  some  species  this  tendency 
is  sooner  developed  than  in  others.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  amateur  horticulturists,  like  my  inquiring  friend, 
are  puzzled  at  what  looks  like  inconsistency  in  nature- 
why  she  refuses  to  produce  always  again  his  Baldwin 
Apple,  or  his  Rareripe  Peach,  his  Striped  Petunia,  or  his 


112  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

Double  Carnation,  yet  gives  him  buck,  seemingly  identical 
with  the  parent,  his  Corn  or  his  Wheat,  his  Tomato  or  his 
Cabbage,  or  in  flowers  his  Mignonette  or  Alyssum.  I  say 
"  seemingly,"  for  it  may  be  doubted  if  they  are  identical, 
only  the  variation  is  so  slightly  marked  that  it  escapes 
notice.  Many,  whose  experience  in  such  matters  should 
have  taught  them  better,  are  always  confounding  plants 
raised  from  cuttings  or  slips  with  those  raised  from  seeds, 
and  cannot  see  why  the  plant  raised  from  the  slip  or  root 
of  a  White  Dahlia,  or  the  tree  raised  from  the  graft  of  a 
Baldwin  Apple,  should  be  always  identical  with  the  plant 
or  tree  from  which  they  are  taken,  while  the  seeds  taken 
from  either  would  not  produce  the  same.  Any  cutting 
from  a  root  or  a  branch,  whether  rooted  itself  or  engrafted 
on  another  stock  (except  in  rare  cases  of  sports),  will  be 
identical  with  that  of  the  original  form  from  which  it  is 
taken  ;  in  fact,  it  is  only  a  separated  part  of  the  same 
plant,  while  the  plant  raised  from  seed  is  a  distinct  indi- 
vidual. 

Very  few  not  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  flowers  as  a 
business,  know  that  many  of  the  most  beautiful  ones 
used  for  decorating  flower  beds  iu  summer,  and  hot-houses 
in  winter,  can  be  raised  from  seed.  The  price  of  seeds, 
as  compared  with  plants,  is  very  low  ;  a  package  of  seeds 
costing  twenty-five  cents  will  usually  raise  as  many  plants 
as  could  be  bought  from  the  florists  for  $25.  It  is  true 
that  care  and  labor  are  necessary  in  starting  them,  but 
the  pleasure  derived  from  the  operation  alone  well  repays 
that,  independently  of  economic  considerations.  April 
is  the  best  month  for  sowing  most  of  the  seeds  of  tropi- 
cal plants,  and  it  is  best  done  where  there  is  the  conven- 
ience of  a  hot-bed  or  warm  greenhouse.  The  hot-bed  is 
made  in  the  usual  manner  (See  chapter  on  Hot-beds). 
The  soil  should  be,  if  possible,  of  a  light,  sandy  nature, 
mixed  with  at  least  one-third  of  leaf-mould  from  the  woods; 
if  the  leaf  mould  is  not  procurable,  pulverized  muck,  or 


WHAT  VARIETIES   COME  TRUE   FROM   SEEDS  ?        113 

stable  manure  rotted  to  the  condition  of  mould,  will  do 
nearly  as  well.  This  is  spread  over  the  manure  to  the 
depth  of  about  six  inches.  The  sashes  of  the  hot-bed 
should  fit  close,  and  there  should  be  some  material  ready 
for  covering  the  sash  at  night — either  straw  mats  or  shut- 
ters. We  ourselves  use  shutters  made  out  of  one-half- 
inch  stuff,  and  exactly  the  size  of  the  sash.  All  these  prep- 
arations being  made,  insert  a  thermometer  into  the  soil 
covering  the  hot-bed,  and  when  it  indicates  a  declining 
temperature  of  seventy-five  degrees  the  seeds  may  be 
sown.  Most  of  the  flower  seeds  may  be  sown  in  a  hot- 
bed just  as  we  sow  Egg-plants  or  Tomatoes,  which  is  best 
done  for  private  use  by  sowing  in  rows  from  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  to  an  inch  in  depth,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
seed,  the  distance  between  the  rows  being  two  or  three 
inches.  Let  me  here  repeat  a  caution  that  I  have  often 
given  in  connection  with  seed  sowing:  Be  sure  that  the 
soil  used  for  covering  the  seed  is  light  (See  Chapter 
XXII  on  Propagation  by  Seed  for  full  details).  One- 
half  of  the  loss  in  seeds  is  in  consequence  of  their  being 
covered  with  a  heavy,  clayey  soil.  The  power  of  different 
plants  to  penetrate  through  the  soil  varies  greatly.  Thus, 
while  the  seeds  of  the  Tomato  germinate  in  almost  any  soil, 
the  Egg-plant — a  vegetable  of  the  same  family — requires 
the  utmost  care.  As  soon  as  the  seedling  plants  have  grown 
so  as  to  attain  the  first  true  leaves — that  is,  the  first  leaves 
that  show  after  the  seed-leaves — they  must  be  replanted 
carefully  in  soft,  light  soil,  at  from  one  to  three  inches 
apart,  according  to  the  kind.  This  will  not  only  prevent 
them  from  damping  off,  as  many  of  them  are  very  apt  to 
do,  but  they  will  be  much  stronger  and  suffer  less  when 
re-planted  in  the  open  ground.  We  prefer  to  re-plant 
the  seedlings  in  the  shallow  boxes  already  described. 
They  are  more  portable  thus  than  if  planted  again  in  the 
soil  of  the  hot-bed,  though,  of  course,  after  planting  in 
the  boxes,  these  are  put  again  into  the  hot-bed.  After  the 


114  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

seedlings  have  been  planted  in  these  boxes,  lightly  water 
them  and  shade  for  two  or  three  days.  As  the  season  ad- 
vances attend  to  ventilation,  watering  and  covering  up 
at  night. 

Those  who  have  not  the  convenience  of  a  hot-bed  may 
sow  the  flower  seeds  in  the  shallow  boxes  above  men- 
tioned, and  place  them  in  the  window  of  a  south  or  east 
room,  where  the  thermometer  does  not  average  less  than 
seventy  degrees.  Success  would  be  more  complete,  how- 
ever, if  panes  of  glass  were  placed  over  the  seeds,  resting 
on  the  edges  of  the  box  an  inch  or  so  above  the  soil.  This 
would  prevent  evaporation  and  render  watering,  which 
lias  the  effect  of  caking  the  surface  of  the  soil  and  pre- 
venting germination,  less  necessary.  The  protecting  cloth, 
already  described,  may  be  used  for  any  purpose  for  which 
glass  can  be  used  in  covering  seeds  after  May  1. 

We  name  in  the  following  list,  the  varieties  of  flowers 
most  suitable  to  grow  from  seeds  : 

Canna  Indira,  or  Indian  Shot,  grown  mainly  for  the 
beauty  of  its  foliage.  Sown  in  hot-bed  in  April,  and 
planted  out  in  the  open  ground  in  June,  will  by  August 
attain  a  height  of  six  or  eight  feet.  In  addition  to  the 
rich,  tropical-looking  foliage,  the  flowers  of  some  sorts 
are  handsome  ;  colors  :  yellow,  scarlet,  orange,  etc.  A 
new  dwarf  variety  has  just  been  introduced,  growing  only 
a  foot  and  a  half  in  height,  with  flowers  nearly  as  fine  as 
those  of  the  Gladiolus,  and  in  far  greater  variety  than 
the  taller  sorts. 

Antirrhinum,  or  Snap-Dragon. — A  beautiful  summer 
flowering  plant,  presenting  a  great  diversity  of  coloring, 
is  easily  raised  from  seed  in  the  hot-bed.  The  Antir- 
rhinums may  be  planted  out  in  this  latitude  in  May,  and 
flower  from  middle  of  June  throughout  the  summer. 

Cobaea  scandens,— A  climbing  plant,  which  will  attain, 
from  seed,  a  growth  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  one  season. 


WHAT   VARIETIES  COME  TRUE   FROM   SEEDS  ?        115 

The  flowers  are  bell-shaped ;  purple ;  three  inches  in 
length  by  one  inch  and  one-half  in  breadth.  The  seeds 
are  thin  and  flat,  and  should  be  placed  on  edge  when 
sown. 

Coleus. — This  famous  ornamental-leaved  plant  is  easily 
raised  from  seed,  and  breaks  into  endless  varieties.  It 
is  exceedingly  tender,  however,  and  had  better  not  be 
sown  before  May,  nor  planted  out  before  June. 

Zonal  Geraniums  are,  perhaps,  the  most  valuable  of 
all  plants  for  summer  blooming  in  our  climate.  They  are 
easily  raised  from  seed,  and  will  well  reward  the  labor 
by  the  endless  variety  produced.  A  few  years  ago  the 
only  colors  of  these  were  scarlet  and  pink.  Now  we  have 
them  in  every  shade,  from  white  to  crimson,  with  endless 
tints  of  scarlet  and  rose,  double  and  single.  The  Zonal 
Geraniums  may  be  lifted  and  potted  in  the  fall,  and  if 
well  pruned  in  when  lifted,  will  bloom  finely  in  winter. 

Lantana  is  another  plant  easily  raised  from  seed;  the 
flower  resembles  the  Verbena  somewhat,  but  has,  besides 
many  of  the  colors  found  in  the  Verbena,  orange  and 
yellow,  which  are  not  found  in  that  flower. 

Lobelias. — Dwarf  plants,  well  suited  for  hanging  bas- 
kets, or  for  ribbon  lining.  The  flowers  range  from  white 
to  blue.  The  blue  of  the  Lobelia  is  often  of  the  richest 
azure,  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  other  plant. 

Pansy. — Of  all  plants  raised  from  seed  by  the  florist, 
none  is  of  greater  importance  than  the  Pansy;  it  has  now 
such  a  diversity  of  color,  and  coming  at  a  season  in  spring 
when  flowers  are  yet  scarce  ;  it  is  an  ever  welcome  favorite. 
The  usual  plan  is  to  sow  the  seeds  in  August  or  Septem- 
ber, so  as  to  get  plants  large  enough  to  keep  over  in  cold 
frames  through  the  winter,  to  bloom  in  March,  April  or 
May  ;  but  many  now  sow  part  of  their  crop  in  January  or 
February  in  the  greenhouse  or  hot-bed,  and  though  they 
come  in  flower  later  in  spring,  yet  the  younger  plants  are 


116  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

much  better  adapted  for  blooming  through  the  entire 
summer  months  than  those  sown  in  autumn.  When 
sown  in  August  or  September,  we  find  it  a  good  plan  to 
shade  the  seed-bed  by  shutters  made  of  laths  or  protect- 
ing cloth,  or  some  such  partial  shading,  for  four  or  five 
hours  during  the  day,  while  the  sun  is  hot,  but  they 
should  never  be  sown  in,  or  kept  in,  exclusive  shade. 
This  is  true  of  nearly  all  kinds  of  seeds. 

Petunias,  being  of  rapid  growth,  will  flower  the  first 
season,  even  if  sown  in  the  open  ground,  but  usually  not 
before  July  or  August.  If  sown  in  the  hot-bed  or  green- 
house in  January,  February  or  March,  they  will  bloom 
in  April,  May  or  June,  and  make  larger  and  finer  plants. 
If  wanted  for  summer  blooming,  and  not  to  sell  when  in 
flower,  the  seed  should  not  be  sown  before  the  middle  of 
April. 

Dia ill  h us, — The  Pinks  are  numerous  and  varied,  many 
of  them  having  a  rich,  clove-like  fragrance.  They  present 
an  endless  variety  in  color  and  style  of  flower. 

Sal  via  splendens,  or  Scarlet  Sage. — Seeds  of  this  sown 
in  April  will  flower  by  July  or  August,  and  continue 
throughout  the  season.  This,  perhaps,  is  the  most  gor- 
geous plant  of  our  gardens;  single  plants  often  attain  a 
height  of  six  feet,  and  nearly  as  much  in  diameter,  hav- 
ing a  hundred  scarlet,  plume-like,  flower-spikes.  The 
color  is  so  intense  when  seen  against  a  green  background, 
that  it  is  often  visible  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile. 

Verbena. — This  is  yet  one  of  the  most  popular  plants 
of  the  day ;  it  is  easily  raised  from  seed,  and  no  other 
plant  that  we  know  of  will  so  well  reward  the  trouble.  The 
mumber  of  varieties  now  attained  is  something  wonderful, 
even  to  us  in  the  trade.  Every  year  develops  some  new 
strain.  Every  color  seemingly  is  obtained  but  yellow  or 
orange  ;  these  we  never  expect  to  have,  as  there  seems  to  be 
a  natural  law  of  the  floral  kingdom  that  blue,  yellow  and 


WHAT  VARIETIES   COME  TRITE   PROM   SEEDS?        117 

scarlet  are  never  found  in  varieties  of  the  same  species. 
Thus  we  have  in  Dahlias  and  Hoses,  yellow  and  scarlet 
colors,  but  no  blue  ;  just  as  we  have  in  Verbenas  blue  and 
scarlet,  but  no  yellow.  My  readers  will  do  well  to  remem- 
ber this,  and  be  saved  from  investing  in  "blue"  Roses  or 
Dahlias  and  " yellow"  Verbenas,  which  are  occasionally 
offered,  knowing  that  the  seller  must  either  be  ignorant 
of  his  trade  or  dishonest. 

Delphinium  bybridum  (Larkspur). — Hardy  perennial 
herbaceous  plants  of  the  most  dazzling  shades  of  blue, 
from  lightest  azure  to  the  deepest  mazarine  blue.  Seeds 
sown  in  January  or  February,  in  heat,  will  flower  the 
same  season,  but  the  best  plan  is  to  sow  in  September,  and 
winter  over  in  cold  frames.  They  grow  from  four  to  ten 
feet  in  height.  Blue  is  the  rarest  color  among  flowers, 
and  therein  Delphiniums  are  most  useful,  being  hardy  and 
perennial,  and  once  established  in  the  garden  they  grow 
without  further  trouble  for  years. 

Centaureas,  Cinerarias  and  Golden  Pyreilmuu. — 
These  plants,  with  foliage  which  is  used  for  white  or 
yellow  lines  in  ribbon  planting,  or  in  massing,  are  all 
better  if  raised  from  seeds  than  from  cuttings. 

Asters  are  now  raised  in  immense  numbers  for  market. 
To  get  the  best  plants,  they  should  not  be  sown  sooner 
than  the  middle  of  March  ;  with  careful  handling  at  this 
time  they  will  give  fine  blooming  plants  by  the  middle  of 
June  for  later  flowering.  Sow  for  succession  at  inter- 
vals of  twenty  to  thirty  days.  They  can  thus  be  had 
through  the  entire  season  from  June  to  October.  When 
grown  in  pots,  we  find  pots  of  five-inch  to  be  the  most 
convenient  size. 

Ampelopsis,  particularly  the  species  introduced  as  A. 
VeitcUi,  but  properly  A.  tricuspidata,  is  best  raised  from 
seed;  seeds  sown  in  December  or  January,  potted  off 
into  two-inch  pots  and  planted  out  into  the  open  ground 


118  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTL'liE. 

in  May,  if  trained  to  strings  or  stakes,  will  attain  a  height 
of  six  to  nine  feet  before  October.  There  is  now  an  im- 
mense demand  for  this  grand  climber,  and  so  far  the 
supply  has  been  entirely  inadequate. 

Balsams  should  not  be  sown  sooner  than  May  1st. 
Sown  at  that-  time,  they  will  make  fine  plants  by  the 
middle  of  June  if  to  be  sold  in  pots;  if  wanted  for  cut 
flowers,  they  should  be  sown  in  the  open  ground  about 
June  1st. 

Carnation. — The  monthly  kinds  of  Carnation  should 
be  sown  in  winter  or  early  spring,  and  if  grown  either 
in  pots  or  planted  in  the  open  ground,  will  flower  the 
first  season  by  September  or  October.  But  the  hardy 
garden  Carnations,  so  much  grown  for  cut  flowers  in 
summer,  should  not  be  sown  before  the  middle  of  May, 
in  the  open  ground,  and  should  be  planted  in  July,  eight 
or  ten  inches  apart,  when  they  will  cover  the  ground  by 
fall,  and  will  stand  the  winter  in  almost  any  section  of 
the  country  where  the  thermometer  does  not  fall  below 
zero  ;  or  in  sections  such  as  Canada,  where  the  ground  is 
covered  by  snow,  they  will  stand  a  much  lower  tempera- 
ture. 

Cineraria,  Calceolaria  and  Primula  seeds,  in  our 
opinion,  are  best  sown  in  March,  April,  or  May  ;  we  have 
practised  sowing  at  this  time  for  the  past  fifteen  years, 
vvith  great  success.  In  England,  the  practice  is  to  sow  in 
July  and  August,  and  it  is  all  right  in  their  cooler  cli- 
mate, but  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  get  seeds  of  any 
of  these  to  vegetate  freely  in  hot  weather,  and  we  prefer 
to  start  the  seeds  earlier  and  keep  the  plants  through  the 
summer,  prickad  off  in  shallow  boxes.  The  seeds  will 
vegetate  freely  in  September  and  October,  but  it  is  then 
rather  too  late  to  get  plants  large  enough. 

Besides  the  plants  thus  described  in  detail,  as  being 
suitable  to  raise  from  seeds  in  greenhouse  or  hot-bed,  the 


WHAT  VARIETIES   COME  TRUE   FROM   SEEDS. 


119 


following  list  (descriptions  of  which  can  be  found  in  the 
Seed  Catalogues),  can  all  be  raised  from  seeds,  and  make 
fine  plants  for  sale  by  the  selling  season  in  May  and  June, 
or  to  produce  earlier  cut  flowers  than  when  sown  in  the 
open  ground: 

Dianthue, 

Erythrina, 

Euphorbia, 

Everlasting  Flowers, 

Ferns, 

Feverfew, 

Forget-Me-Not, 

Fuchsia, 

Gladiolus, 

Globe  Amaranth, 

Gloxinia, 

Gnaphalium, 

Heliotrope, 

Helianthus, 

Helichrysum, 

Hollyhock, 

Humea, 

Ice  Plant, 

Impatiens  Sultana, 

Indian  Shot, 

Ipomaea, 

Lantana, 

Larkspur, 

Lathyrus, 

Lavandula, 

Limnanthes, 

Linum, 

Lobelia, 

Lophospermum, 

Lychnis, 

Marigold, 


Abutilon, 

Ageratum, 

Alonsoa, 

Alyssum, 

Amarantus, 

Anagallia, 

Antirrhinum, 

Aquilegia, 

Ardisia, 

Aristolochia, 

Aster, 

Auricula, 

Begonia, 

Bellis, 

BrowaUia, 

Calceolaria, 

Campanula, 

Canary  Bird  Flower, 

Canna, 

Castor  Oil  Bean, 

Celosia, 

Chrysanthemum, 

Clematis, 

Cockscomb, 

Coleus, 

Cowslip, 

Cuphea, 

Cyclamen, 

Dahlia, 

Datura, 

Delphinium, 


Maurandia, 

Mignonette, 

Mimosa, 

Mimulus, 

Musk, 

Myosotis, 

Myrsiphyllum, 

Petunia, 

Phlox,  perennial, 

Phlox  Drummondii, 

Poppy, 

Portulaca, 

Primula, 

Pyrethrum, 

Rhodanthe, 

Ricinus, 

Senecio  speciosus, 

Sensitive  Plant, 

Smilax, 

Solanum, 

Stocks, 

Thunbergia, 

Torenia, 

Tritoma, 

Tropaeolum, 

Veronica, 

Vinca, 

Viola, 

Wallflower, 

Wigandia, 

Zinnia. 


120  PRACTICAL 

CHAPTER     XXIV. 
PROPAGATION  OF  PLANTS  BY  CUTTINGS. 

Of  all  the  operations  of  the  florist,  the  one  above  all 
others  in  importance  is  the  propagation  of  plants  by  cut- 
tings. It  is  the  fount  from  which  the  supply  must  come, 
and  becomes  inexhaustible  in  the  hands  of  a  careful 
operator.  I  say  a  careful  operator,  rather  than  a  skilful 
one,  for,  in  my  estimation,  a  great  amount  of  knowledge 
is  not  so  necessary  to  success,  as  that  a  never- flagging, 
careful  application  of  that  knowledge  should  be  made. 
A  careful  man,  who  has  had  the  run  of  a  propagating 
establishment  for  one  year,  and  who  has  kept  his  eyes 
and  ears  open,  will  have  acquired  a  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  business,  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  operate  with  success,  provided  he  is  of  fair  intelligence 
and  studious  habits.  On  the  other  hand,  we  find  hun- 
dreds, who  have  spent  the  best  part  of  their  lives  in  the 
trade,  whose  careless  character  renders  useless  the  knowl- 
edge possessed,  when  this  branch  of  horticulture  is  placed 
in  their  charge, 

I  have  long  held  the  opinion  that  the  necessary  knowl- 
edge to  successfully  propagate  plants  by  cuttings  is  very 
simple,  and  may  be  easily  imparted  by  writing,  even  to 
one  having  no  acquaintance  whatever  with  the  operation. 

Propagating  by  cuttings  is  the  way  in  which  the  larg- 
est number  of  plants  are  multiplied.  As  now  under- 
stood, this  is  a  simple  matter.  Formerly  no  operation  in 
horticulture  was  more  befogged  by  ignorant  pretenders, 
who,  in  writing  on,  or  speaking  of  the  subject,  so  warped 
the  operation  with  troublesome  conditions  as  to  discour- 
age, not  only  amateurs  in  horticulture,  but  inexperienced 
professional  gardeners  as  well. 

One  of  the  first  conditions  necessary  in  the  propaga- 


PROPAGATION   OF   PLANTS  BY  CUTTINGS. 


131 


tion  of  plants  by  cuttings  is,  that  the  plant  from  which 
the  cutting  or  slip  is  taken  must  be  in  vigorous  health. 
If  weak  or  tainted  by  insects  or  disease,  failure  is  almost 
certain  to  be  the  result.  If,  for  example,  we  wish  to  root 
cuttings  of  greenhouse  or  bedding  plants,  such  as  BoU' 
vardias,  Chrysanthemums,  Fuchsias,  Geraniums,  Heliox 
tropes,  Salvias,  Verbenas,  etc.,  one  of  the  best  guides  tt 
the  proper  condition  is,  when  the  cutting  breaks  or  r>i?.ap< 


Fig.  29. — PROPER  uro  T-Mvr.ovEj*  ONCITIONS  OF  CUTTING. 

clean  off  instead  of  bv^/Jlng  cr  '•'  kneeing."  If  it  snaps  ofl 
so  as  to  break,  then  It  It.  in  condition  to  root  freely;  if  it 
bends,  it  is  too  old,  &f.d  though  it  will  root,  it  will  root 
much  slower,  and  make  a  weaker  plant  than  the  slip  that 
snaps  off  on  being  bent.  With  very  few  exceptions,  and 


PRACTICAL  FLORlCtJLTtJRfi. 


those  of  but  little  importance,  cuttings  of  all  kinds  root 
freely  from  slips  taken  from  the  young  wood,  that  is,  the 
young  growth,  before  it  gets  hardened,  and  when  in  the 
condition  indicated  by  the  "  snapping  test,"  as  it  is  called. 
I  believe  I  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  this  valuable 
test  of  the  condition  of  the  cutting  (snapping),  in  "Prac- 
tical Floriculture,"  first  published  in  1868.  A  very  gen- 
eral idea  is  current  that  cuttings  must  be  cut  at  or  below 
an  eye  or  joint.  The  practice  of  this  method  is  not  only 
rarely  necessary,  but  it  leads  undoubtedly  to  many  cases 
of  failure;  not  that  the  cutting  at  or  below  a  joint  either 

hinders  or  assists  the 
formation  of  roots, 
but  from  the  fact 
that,  when  a  slip  is 
cut  at  a  joint,  the 
shoot  often  has  be- 
come too  hard  at  that 
point,  while  at  half 
an  inch  higher  up,  or 
above  the  joint,  the 
proper  condition  will 
be  found.  I  know 
that  it  will  root,  even 
when  in  the  too  hard 
condition,  but  the 
roots  emitted  will  be 
hard  and  slender, 
and,  as  a  conse- 

?"ence>  wil/  not1  b* 

likely  to  make  a  plant 
of  the  same  vigor  as  one  made  from  the  cutting  in  the 
proper  state;  besides,  as  the  hard  cutting  takes  a  longer 
time  to  root,  its  chances  of  failing  from  unfavorable  at- 
mo^pheric  conditions  are  thus  increased. 

Although  we  have  said  that  cuttings  can  be  as  easily 


PROPAGATION  OF  PLANTS  BY  CUTTINGS.  123 

rooted  without  being  cut  at  a  joint  as  otherwise,  yet  there 
are,  in  some  plants,  other  considerations  that  necessitate 
that  they  should  never  be  cut  except  at  a  joint;  for  ex- 
ample, a  Dahlia  cutting  will  root  quite  as  freely,  make  as 
fine  a  flowering  plant  in  fall,  and  the  tuberous  roots  in- 
crease to  the  full  size;  but  it  will  not  be  able  to  start 
again  in  spring,  because  the  Dahlia  pushes  only  from  the 
crown  of  the  root,  and  if  the  crown  has  not  been  formed 
from  a  cutting  made  close 
below  a  joint,  as  in  figure 
30,  it  is  worthless,  as  the 
tubers  and  crown  formed 
without  an  eye  possess  no 
latent  or  dormant  buds; 
hence  the  importance  of 
always  making  Dahlia  or 
Clematis  cuttings  by  cut- 
ting immediately  below  an 
eye,  if  the  roots  are  wanted 
for  future  use.  Plants, 
such  as  some  species  of 
Bouvardias,  Helianthus, 
Euphorbias,  Gypsophila 
and  Anemone,  are  best 
increased  by  cuttings  of 
the  roots,  which  are  cut 
in  pieces  of  an  inch  or  so 
in  length,  placed  flat  to-  Fig  3L_ 

gether  on  the  propagating 
bench,  pressed  down  and  covered  slightly  with  sand  or 
light  soil.  Figure  31  shows  a  root  cutting  of  Anemone 
Japonica. 

With  these  instructions  for  the  proper  state  of  the  cut- 
ting, I  now  proceed  to  describe  the  medium  wherein  it  is  to 
be  placed, and  theconditions  of  temperature, moisture,  etc. 
If  these  are  strictly  followed,  failure  is  an  impossibility  ; 


124  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

for  the  laws  governing  the  rooting  of  a  slip  are  ascertain 
as  those  governing  the  germination  of  a  seed.  In  our 
own  practice,  when  these  conditions  are  strictly  followed, 
failure  is  unknown,  when  the  cutting  or  slip  is  in  the 
proper  condition  of  health. 

The  best  degree  of  temperature  to  root  cuttings  of  the 
great  majority  of  greenhouse  and  bedding  plants  is  sixty- 
live  degrees  of  bottom  heat,  indicated  by  a  thermometer 
plunged  in  the  sand  of  the  bench,  and  an  atmospheric 
temperature  of  fifteen  degrees  less.  A  range  of  ten 
degrees  may  be  allowed,  that  is,  five  degrees  lower  or  five 
degrees  higher;  but  the  nearer  the  heat  of  the  sar.d  can  be 
kept  to  sixty-five  degrees,  and  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
house  to  fifty  degrees,  the  more  perfect  the  success  will 
be.  If  a  much  higher  temperature  be  maintained,  it  will 
be  at  the  expense  of  the  ultimate  health  of  the  plants. 
These  temperatures  refer  to  propagation  under  glass  from 
November  to  April.  Of  course,  when  the  outside  tem- 
perature is  higher  these  temperatures  cannot  be  main- 
tained. 

Sand  is  the  best  medium  in  which  to  place  cuttings  ; 
color  or  texture  is  of  no  special  importance.  What  we 
use  is  the  ordinary  sand  used  by  builders;  this  is  laid  on 
the  hot-bed  or  bench  of  the  greenhouse,  to  the  depth  of 
about  three  inches  and  firmly  packed  down.  When 
"bottom  heat"  is  wanted,  the  flue  or  pipes  under  the 
bench  of  the  greenhouse  are  boarded  in,  so  that  the  heat 
strikes  the  bottom  of  the  bench,  thus  raising  the  temper- 
ature of  the  sand.  We  prefer  the  bottom  of  the  bench  to 
be  of  slate,  as  it  is  a  better  conductor  than  boards;  but 
in  the  absence  of  slate,  boards  will  answer. 

From  the  time  the  cuttings  are  inserted  in  the  sand 
until  they  are  rooted,  they  should  never  be  allowed  to  get 
dry;  in  fact,  our  practice  is,  to  keep  the  sand  soaked  with 
water  until  the  cutting  is  just  on  the  point  of  emitting 
roots,  the  cutting  bench  being  watered  copiously  every 


PROPAGATION   OF   PLANTS  BY   CUTTINGS.  125 

morning,  and  often,  when  the  atmosphere  is  dry,  agai)? 
in  the  evening,  (when  the  greenhouse  is  artificially 
heated).  Kept  thus  saturated,  there  is  less  chance  of  the 
cutting  getting  wilted,  either  by  heat  from  the  sun  or 
from  fire  heat;  for  if  a  cutting  once  gets  wilted,  its  juices 
are  expended,  and  it  becomes  in  the  condition  of  a  hard 
cutting,  the  condition  in  which,  when  bent,  it  svill  not  snap 
nor  break,  which  has  already  been  described.  To  avoid 
this  wilting  or  flagging  of  the  cutting,  every  means  that 
will  suggest  itself  to  the  propagator  is  to  be  used.  Our 
practice  is  to  shade  and  ventilate  in  the  propagating 
house  or  hot-bed  just  as  soon  in  the  forenoon  as  the  action 
of  the  sun's  rays  on  the  glass  raises  the  temperature  of 
the  house  to  sixty-five  or  seventy  degrees.  Of  course, 
in  hot  weather  the  temperature  cannot  be  thus  lowered, 
and  for  this  reason  the  propagation  of  plants  is  a  difficult 
matter  during  the  months  of  June,  July  and  August, 
except  with  such  plants  as  Coleus  and  others  of  tropical 
origin.  In  addition  to  the  shading  and  watering,  AVC 
always  use  in  the  late  spring  or  summer  months,  a  layer 
of  paper  over  the  cuttings  (kept  sprinkled  four  or  five 
times  a  day),  until  within  a  few  days  of  their  rooting; 
this  paper  is  used  only  on  bright  days,  from  ten  to  four 
o'clock.  The  same  plan  is  followed  after  the  cuttings 
are  potted  off,  for  four  or  five  days,  or  until  they  begin  to 
strike  root  into  the  soil. 

This  practice  of  ventilating  the  propagating  house  or 
hot-bed  is,  I  am  aware,  not  in  very  common  use,  many 
contending  that  the  place  where  the  propagating  is  done 
should  at  all  times  be  kept  close.  I  have  tried  both 
methods  long  enough,  and  extensively  enough,  to  satisfy 
myself  beyond  all  question,  that  ventilating  and  propa- 
gating at  a  low  temperature,  are  capable  of  producing  a 
larger  number  of  plants  during  the  season  than  a  high 
temperature  and  a  close  atmosphere.  There  need  be  no 
failures;  and  it  has  the  imporant  advantage  of  produc- 


126  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

ing  a  healthy  stock, which  the  close  or  high  temperature 
system  would  fail  to  do  in  the  case  of  many  plants.  I  have 
often  heard  propagators  boasting  of  rooting  cuttings  in 
five  days.  I  am  well  aware  that  this  may  be  done,  but  I  am 
also  aware  that  it  is  often  done  in  damp  and  cloudy 
weather  at  the  risk  of  the  whole  crop,  and  it  must  be  done 
at  a  high  temperature,  which  at  all  times  causes  the 
plants  to  draw  up  slender,  and  thus  impairs  their  vitality. 

FUNGUS  OF  THE  CUTTING   BENCH. 

Permitting  a  moderate  circulation  of  air  in  the  propa- 
gating house,  tends  to  prevent  the  germination  of  that 
spider-web-like  substance,  which,  for  want  of  a  better 
term,  is  known  among  gardeners  as  the  "  fungus  of  the 
cutting  bench."  Every  one  who  has  had  any  experience 
in  propagating  knows  the  baneful  effects  of  this  ;  how 
that,  in  one  night,  it  will  often  sweep  off  thousands  of 
cuttings  that  a  few  hours  before  were  in  heathful  vigor. 
But  this  dangerous  enemy  of  the  propagator  requires, 
like  vegetation  of  higher  grades,  conditions  suitable  to  its 
development,  which  are  a  calm  atmosphere,  and  a  tem- 
perature above  sixty  degrees  at  night,  or  seventy  degrees 
in  day-time.  Hence,  to  avoid  this  pest,  we  make  every 
effort,  by  shading,  airing  and  regulation  of  fire  heat,  to 
keep  the  atmosphere  of  the  house  so  that  it  shall  not  ex- 
ceed fifty-five  degrees  at  night,  with  ten  degrees  higher  in 
day-time.  This,  of  course,  is  not  practicable  when  the 
outside  temperature  in  the  shade  is  above  sixty  degrees, 
but  the  temperature  can  be  reduced  considerably  by  dash- 
ing water  on  the  pathways  and  other  parts  of  the  house. 
It  is  rarely,  however,  that  the  outside  temperature  ever 
exceeds  sixty  degrees  at  night  for  any  length  of  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York  before  the  middle  of  May,  and 
all  propagating  had  better  be  finished  previous  to  that 
time,  unless  of  tropical  plants.  In  the  fall  months,  about 
the  middle  of  September,  operations  in  propagating  may 


PROPAGATION   OF    PLANTS  BY   CUTTINGS.  127 

again  begin.  As  an  additional  preventive  against  the 
ravages  of  the  "fungus  of  the  cutting  bench,"  we  take 
the  precaution  to  scrape  off  an  inch  of  the  sand,  after 
taking  out  each  batch  of  cuttings,  and  replace  it  with 
fresh  sand,  and,  at  least  twice  each  season,  we  remove  the 
sand  that  has  been  in  use,  wash  the  benches  with  hot 
lime  wash  and  replace  with  fresh  sand,  thus,  as  far  as 
possible,  destroying  the  spores  or  germs  of  the  fungus. 

The  temperature  is  prevented  from  rising  in  the  house 
in  various  ways,  some  using  canvas,  or  bast  matting,  or 
syringing  the  glass  with  a  mixture  of  naphtha  and  white 
lead,  made  about  the  color  and  consistency  of  thin  skim 
milk.  We  find,  however,  the  best  and  most  convenient 
shading  to  be  that  formed  by  flexible  screens  made  of 
common  lath,  planed  and  attached  together  like  Vene- 
tian blinds,  the  laths  being  an  inch  or  so  apart.  These 
can  be  quickly  rolled  or  unrolled,  and  give  an  ever  vary- 
ing modified  shade,  sufficiently  cooling  to  the  house,  yet 
not  darkening  the  cutting  enough  to  impair  its  vigor. 
These  are  not  unrolled  in  the  morning  until  the  temper- 
ature inside  indicates  it  to  be  necessary  (usually  about 
nine  o'clock),  and  are  rolled  up  in  the  afternoon  as  soon 
as  the  sun  ceases  to  shine  on  the  glass,  for  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  the  cutt.ngs  receive  as  much 
light  as  they  will  bear  without  becoming  wilted.  An  ob- 
jection to  these  screens,  however,  is  their  expense,  as  they 
cost  about  ten  cents  per  square  foot. 

The  time  required  by  cuttings  to  root  varies  from  eight 
to  twenty  days,  according  to  the  variety,  condition  of  the 
cutting  and  the  temperature.  Verbenas,  Fuchsias  or 
Heliotropes,  when  in  proper  condition,  and  kept  without 
ever  being  allowed  to  wilt,  will  root,  in  an  average  bottom 
heat  of  sixty-five  degrees,  in  eight  days,  while  Roses, 
Pelargoniums  or  Petunias  will  take  at  least  double  that 
time  under  the  same  conditions. 

It  is  best  to  pot  off  the  cuttings,  when  rooted,  at  once, 


IX'S  PBACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

no  matter  how  small  the  roots  may  be  ;  half  an  inch  is 
a  much  better  length  for  them  to  be  when  potted  than 
two  inches,  and  the  operation  is  much  quicker  performed 
when  the  roots  are  short,  than  when  long.  But  the  main 
evils  of  delaying  the  potting  off  of  cuttings  are,  that  when 
left  too  long,  the  cuttings  grow  up  weak  and  spindling, 
the  roots  become  hard,  and  do  not  take  as  quickly 
to  the  pot.  Nearly  the  same  care  is  required  in  shading 
and  watering  the  cuttings  after  potting,  as  when  they  are 
in  the  cutting  bench  ;  for  no  matter  how  carefully  taken 
up,  in  the  operation  of  potting,  the  delicate  roots  get 
more  or  less  injured,  and  until  the  cuttings  begin  to  emit 
new  roots,  they  are  nearly  as  liable  to  wilt  as  the  unrooted 
cuttings. 

Cuttings  should  always  be  placed  in  small  pots,  the  best 
size  being  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  inches  wide  and 
deep  ;  if  placed  in  larger  pots,  the  soil  dries  out  too  slowly 
and  the  tender  root,  imbedded  too  long  in  a  mass  of  wet 
soil,  rots,  and  the  plant  dies.  Though  we  generally  pre- 
fer soil  to  be  unsifted  in  potting  large  plants,  yet  for 
newly-potted  cuttings  it  is  better  to  be  sifted  fine,  not 
only  because  it  is  more  congenial  thus  to  the  young  roots, 
but  also  that  the  operation  of  potting  is  quicker  done  with 
finely-sifted  than  with  coarse  soil. 

After  potting,  the  cuttings  are  placed  on  benches  cov- 
ered with  an  inch  or  so  of  sand,  watered  freely  with  ? 
fine  rose  watering  pot,  and  shaded  for  four  or  five  days  • 
by  that  time  they  will  have  begun  to  root,  when  no  f1; 
fcher  shading  is  necessary. 


SYSTEM"  OF  PROPAGATION.         129 

CHAPTER    XXV. 
"  SAUCER  SYSTEM  "  OF  PROPAGATION. 

The  above  methods  of  propagating  by  cuttings  are  such 
as  are  now  practised  by  commercial  florists  who  have  all 
the  needed  appliances,  but  for  florists  beginning  in  a 
small  way,  or  gardeners  who  have  charge  of  private  green- 
houses, there  is  usually  no  necessity  for  a  propagating 
house,  unless  the  requirements  for  plants  are  unusually 
large,  as  the  "  Saucer  System  "  of  propagation  will  answer 
every  purpose,  and  it  is  the  safest  of  all  methods  in  inex- 
perienced hands.  I  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to  introduce 
this  system  some  twenty  years  ago,  and  here  repeat  the 
directions  first  given  in  one  of  the  horticultural  journals 
ftt  that  time  :  Common  saucers  or  plates  are  used  to 
hold  the  sand  in  which  the  cuttings  are  placed.  The 
sand  is  put  in  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  so,  and  the  cut- 
tings inserted  in  it  close  enough  to  touch  each  other. 
The  sand  is  then  watered  until  it  becomes  of  the  condition 
of  mud,  and  placed  on  the  shelf  of  the  greenhouse,  or  on 
the  window-sill  of  the  sitting  room  or  parlor,  fully  ex- 
posed to  the  sun,  and  never  shaded.  But  one  condition  is 
essential  to  success  :  until  the  cuttings  become  rooted  the 
sand  must  be  continually  saturated,  and  kept  in  the 
condition  of  mud ;  if  once  allowed  to  dry  up,  exposed  to 
the  sun  as  they  are,  the  cuttings  will  quickly  wilt,  and 
the  whole  operation  will  be  defeated. 

The  rules  previously  laid  down  for  the  proper  condition 
of  the  cuttings  are  the  same  in  this  case,  and  those  for 
the  temperature  nearly  so  ;  although,  by  the  saucer  sys- 
tem, a  high  temperature  can  be  maintained  without  in- 
jury,  as  the  cuttings  are  in  reality  placed  in  water,  and 
will  not  droop  at  the  same  temperature  as  if  the  sand 
wer«  kept  in  the  regular  condition  of  moisture  maintained 


130  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

in  the  propagating  bench.  Still,  the  detached  slip,  until 
rooted,  will  not  endure  a  continuation  of  excessive  heat, 
BO  that  we  advise,  as  we  do  in  the  regular  method  of 
propagating,  that  the  attempt  should  not  be  made  to  root 
cuttings  in  this  way,  in  this  latitude,  in  the  months  of 
June,  July  and  August,  unless  with  plants  of  a  tropical 
nature.  When  the  cuttings  are  rooted,  they  should  be 
potted  in  small  pots,  and  treated  carefully  by  shading 
and  watering  for  a  few  days,  as  previously  directed.  All 
kinds  of  plants  may  be  rooted  by  this  method  when  the 
young  green  wood  is  used,  whether  of  soft  wooded  plants, 
such  as  Fuchsias,  Carnations,  Geraniums,  Heliotropes, 
etc.,  or  of  hard- wooded  plants,  such  as  Roses  or  Azaleas, 
provided  that  the  same  condition  of  cutting  is  adhered  to 
as  advised  for  the  other  methods. 

In  many  of  the  operations  in  floriculture,  as  in  vegeta- 
ble gardening,  success  or  failure  depends  upon  their 
being  done  at  the  proper  time,  and  though  it  may  seem 
like  a  needless  repetition,  I  cannot  too  strongly  enforce 
upon  the  novice  the  importance  of  observing  the  dates 
that  the  experience  of  our  best  cultivators  has  shown  to 
be  best  under  our  peculiar  climate.  Whoever  in  this 
matter  follows  the  directions  of  an  English  work  upon 
horticulture,  will  be  sure  to  fall  into  difficulties,  although 
its  teachings  may  be  exactly  suited  to  the  English  climate. 
I  would  here  refer  to  the  evils  arising  from  the  too  com- 
mon practice  of  many  of  our  agricultural  and  horticul- 
tural journals,  of  selecting  from  English  papers  articles 
that  often  seriously  mislead.  For  example,  a  Boston 
magazine  a  year  or  two  ago  copied  a  long  article  from  the 
English  "Journal  of  Horticulture,"  telling  us  in  a  very 
patronizing  way  how  to  propagate  the  Golden  Tricolor- 
leaved  Geraniums.  The  writer  laid  great  stress  on  having 
a  sharp  knife  and  cutting  the  slip  in  a  particular  manner, 
then  to  insert  it  in  silver  sand,  and  a  lot  of  other  nonsense 
that  any  boy  of  six  months'  practice  here  would  have 


PROPAGATING   SOFT-WOODED   PLANTS.  131 

but,  above  all,  the  operation  was  to 
be  performed  in  July  !  He  might  have  got  the  sharpest 
knife  that  was  ever  made,  and  the  purest  silver  sand  that 
ever  lay  on  the  seashore,  but  he  would  have  most  likely 
failed  in  our  climate,  if  he  attempted  the  work  in  July. 
This  is  only  one  of  scores  of  such  absurd  selections  as  we 
see  yearly  in  some  of  our  horticultural  journals.  If  the 
conductors  of  such  have  not  original  matter  to  fill  up  with, 
better  far  that  they  leave  their  pages  blank  than  to  show 
their  utter  ignorance  of  what  is  suitable  to  our  climate. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
PROPAGATING  SOFT- WOODED  PLANTS  IN  SUMMER 

Every  one  who  has  attempted  the  propagation  of  plants 
by  cuttings  during  the  high  temperature  we  have  in  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  is  aware  of  the  great  diffi- 
culty experienced  in  doing  so,  no  matter  what  system  or 
process  is  resorted  to.  In  those  months,  plants  of  a  suc- 
culent nature,  such  as  Carnations,  Geraniums,  Petunias, 
etc.,  etc.,  grow  rapidly,  and  the  shoots  formed  are  in 
consequence  watery  and  soft,  so  that,  when  detached  from 
the  plant  and  used  for  propagation  at  that  hot  season  of 
the  year,  when  the  thermometer  will  average  seventy-five 
or  eighty  degrees  in  the  shade,  the  chances  are  that  few 
will  root,  but  will,  as  gardeners  term  it,  "damp  off"  in 
a  few  days  after  being  put  in  as  cuttings.  In  ordinary 
cases,  with  those  having  the  means  of  propagating  plants, 
this  difficulty  of  rooting  cuttings  during  the  summer 
months  is  not  of  much  importance,  as  florists  usually  re- 
serve stock  enough  to  enable  them  to  produce  all  the  cut- 
tings they  require  at  the  proper  season  for  propagating- 


132  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

namely  :  September,  October  and  November.  But  with 
amateurs,  who  have  but  a  plant  or  two  of  some  favorite 
variety,  and  who  wish  to  safely  increase  it,  or  to  the  flor- 
ist wishing  to  make  the  most  of  some  valuable  importa- 
tion, this  practice,  as  yet  little  used,  is  likely  to  prove  of 
.some  benefit,  particularly  with  such  plants  as  the  Varie- 
gated-leaved Geraniums,  like  "  Mrs.  Pollock,"  "  Happy 
Thought,"  "  Mountain  of  Snow,"  etc.  Layering  in  the 
usual  way,  by  bending  them  down  to  the  ground,  is,  of 
course,  in  plants  of  that  habit  of  growth,  all  but  imprac- 
ticable. To  take  off  cuttings  would  not  only  enfeeble  the 
plants,  but  the  prospect  of  rooting  these  cuttings  in  hot 
weather  would  be  nearly  hopeless ;  so  a  compromise  is 
made  by  a  method  which,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  we 
call  "layering  in  the  air."  The  shoot  is  "tongued"  in  the 
manner  of  an  ordinary  layer.  This  has  the  effect  to  arrest 
the  upward  flow  of  the  sap  at  the  incision,  which,  of 
course,  acting  to  some  extent  as  if  the  shoot  had  been 
taken  off,  induces  a  branching  out  below  the  "  layer," 
providing  shoots  for  further  operations.  But  the  effect 
on  the  vigor  of  the  plant  is  much  better  than  if  the  layer 
or  shoot  had  been  detached  ;  for,  by  the  time  it  takes  to 
become  hatd  and  form  a  callus,  the  shoots  branching  out 
below  the  cut  are  fit  to  supply  the  loss  of  foliage  sustained 
when  the  layer  or  cutting  is  detached.  The  cutting  or 
"  layer"  is  in  condition  to  be  cut  off  in  five  or  six  days 
from  the  time  it  has  been  tongued,  and  will  be  found  to 
be  not  only  healed  up,  or  callused,  and  in  such  a  condi- 
tion that  it  will  quickly  emit  roots,  but  the  whole  cutting 
presents  a  well-ripened1  firm  condition,  not  easily  de- 
scribed, but  readily  detected  by  the  practical  propagator. 
When  detached,  these  should  be  treated  in  all  respects  as 
ordinary  cuttings,  duly  watered  and  shaded  for  a  few 
days  until  they  strike  out  roots,  when  they  are  potted  off 
in  small  pots  in  the  usual  manner.  In  wet  summers  we 
find  that  many  of  the  plants  of  the  Variegated  Zonal  Gera- 


PROPAGATING   SOFT-WOODED   PLANTS. 


133 


mums  and  Variegated  Rose  Geraniums,  operated  on  in  this 
manner,  produce  roots  half  an  inch  in  length  as  they  hang 
in  the  air  ;  but  this  is  of  no  special  advantage,  as  we  find 
that  those  layers  that  merely  heal  up  and  callus  make 
just  as  fine  plants  as  those  that  have  formed  roots  before 
being  cut  off. 
Plants  thus  formed,  make  much  finer  plants  than  reg- 


33. — CUTTINGS  PAKTLT  SEVERED. 


ular  layers,  as  they  are  to  all  intents  and  purpose  cuttings, 
and  consequently,  unlike  layers,  are  not  long  dependent 
on  the  parent  plant  for  support,  being  indebted  little  or 
nothing  to  the  old  plant  during  their  development.  By 
this  system  of  propagation,  we  have  often  had  the  satis- 
faction of  doubling  our  stock  of  many  rare  and  valuable 


134  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

plants,  which  it  would  have  been  perfectly  impracticable 
to  do  in  the  usual  manner  during  the  hot  months. 

Another  method  of  propagating  plants  in  the  hot 
months,  which  in  principle  is  somewhat  similar  to  that 
of  the  plan  of  "  layering  in  the  air,"  is  as  follows  : 

Instead  of  tonguing  the  shoot  to  be  used  for  a  cutting, 
as  before,  it  was  merely  snapped  short  off,  at  a  point 
where  the  condition  of  the  shoot  or  slip  would  make  it 
hang  on  to  the  plant  by  the  merest  shred  of  bark,  as 
shown  in  figure  32.  Slight  as  this  strip  of  bark  appears 
to  be,  it  is  sufficient  to  sustain  the  cutting,  without  any 
material  injury  from  wilting,  until  it  forms  the  "callus," 
or  granulated  condition,  which  usually  preceeds  the  for- 
mation of  roots.  The  cutting  or  slip  may  be  detached 
in  from  eight  to  twelve  days,  after  it  has  been  broken  in 
the  manner  described  ;  and  then  potted  in  two  or  three 
inch  pots.  If  watered  and  shaded  rather  less  than  re- 
quired by  ordinary  cuttings,  it  will  form  roots  in  eight  or 
twelve  days  more,  and  not  one  in  a  hundred  will  fail, 
even  of  plants  of  the  Tricolor  Geraniums,  which  we  all 
know  are  difficult  to  root  under  the  ordinary  modes  of 
propagation,  particularly  in  hot  weather.  We  recently 
propagated  in  this  way  nearly  10,000  plants  of  the  Tri- 
color class,  with  a  loss  of  but  one  per  cent.;  had  we 
adopted  the  ordinary  method,  even  with  the  plants  in 
good  condition,  our  experience  has  shown  that  a  loss  of 
at  least  ninety  per  cent,  might  have  been  expected. 

This  plan  is  applicable  to  many  other  plants  besides 
Geraniums.  The  following  may  be  propagated  with  great 
certainty  by  this  method,  using  the  young  unripened 
shoots :  Abutilons,  Begonias,  Carnations,  Heliotropes, 
Crotons,  Cactus  of  all  kinds,  Lantanas,  Oleanders,  Petu- 
nias (double),  Pelargoniums,  or  Geraniums  of  all  sorts, 
Poinsettias,  together  with  nearly  all  kinds  of  plants  of  a 
woody  or  succulent  character.  Besides  the  absolute  cer- 
tainty of  having  the  cuttings  root  by  this  method,  it  has 


PROPAGATION   OF   ROSES   BT   CUTTINGS.  135 

another  most  important  advantage  :  All  propagators 
know  that  many  kinds  of  plants  when  cut  back  for  cut- 
tings, become  weakened  so  much  that,  if  not  carefully 
handled,  they  may  die  ;  also  if  two  or  three  crops  of  cut- 
tings are  taken  off  as  they  grow,  the  cuttings  are  weakened 
and  the  "  stock  plant "  becomes  permanently  injured. 
By  this  method  of  breaking  the  slip,  so  that  it  hangs  by 
a  shred  to  the  parent  plant,  the  roots  have  to  use  their 
functions  for  its  support  nearly  the  same  as  if  it  remained 
entirely  attached  to  the  plant.  This  results,  exactly  as 
we  wish,  in  causing  the  parent  plant  to  strike  out  shoots 
below  the  broken  slip,  and  these  again,  in  their  turn,  can 
be  so  treated.  I  may  say  that,  in  certain  conditions  of 
the  shoot,  instead  of  snapping,  it  will  "knoe"  or  bend 
only  ;  in  such  cases,  it  will  be  necessary  to  slip  it  two- 
thirds  through  with  a  knife,  but  in  most  instances  it  will 
snap  and  hang  by  the  shred  of  bark,  which  is  the  best 
condition. 


CHAPTER     XXVII. 
PROPAGATION  OF  ROSES  BY  CUTTINGS. 

As  the  propagation  of  Roses  by  cuttings  is  a  matter  of 
very  wide-spread  interest,  I  will  give  a  special  description 
of  our  method.  The  rule  that  applies  to  the  proper  con- 
dition of  soft-wooded  plants,  such  as  Fuchsias,  Helio- 
tropes or  Verbenas  (that  is,  that  the  young  shoot  should 
be  in  a  state  to  snap  or  break  off  instead  of  bending),  does 
not  apply  to  the  proper  condition  of  Rose  cuttings.  The 
young  shoot  of  the  Rose  is  also  what  is  to  be  used,  but  it 
must  be  hard  and  woody.  For  example,  when  a  Rosebud 
is  developed  enough  to  be  cut,  the  shoot  on  which  it  grows 
is  in  about  the  right  condition  for  cuttings,  each  leaf  of 
the  shoot,  with  its  bud  at  the  axil,  and  two  or  three 


136  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

inches  of  stem,  making  a  cutting  ;  that  is  what  is  called 
a  single  eye  cutting.  They  are  simply  made  by  mak- 
ing one  rather  slanting  cut  between  the  joints,  or  about 
half  an  inch  above  the  eye.  About  one-third  of  the  leaf 
is  cut  off,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  more  cut- 
tings to  be  put  in  the  cutting  bench.  If  by  any  acci- 
dent the  leaf  is  taken  off,  the  Rose  cutting  in  this  condi- 
tion will  never  root  to  make  a  good  plant ;  or  if,  from  any 
cause,  the  leaves  drop  off  while  the  cuttings  are  in  pro- 
cess of  rooting,  not  one  in  ten  will  ever  make  a  satisfac- 
tory plant.  Besides  the  method  of  using  cuttings  made 
from  one  eye  or  bud,  the  "  blind  wood,'1  so  called  (that 
is,  the  shoots  that  do  not  produce  flower  buds),  is  also 
used,  and  generally  makes  the  safest  and  best  kind  of  cut- 
tings, as  these  blind  shoots  are  hard  and  slender,  and 
root  rather  quicker  than  cuttings  made  from  single  eyes. 
These  shoots  are  usually  too  short-jointed  to  be  made  into 
single  eye  cuttings,  and  have  often  two  or  more  eyes  to 
the  cutting  ;  but  the  foliage  should  be  shortened  off  about 
one-third,  as  in  the  single  eye  cuttings.  A  good  length 
for  a  Rose  cutting  is  three  inches,  though  in  some  short- 
jointed  kinds  no  more  than  one  inch  in  length  of  cutting 
can  be  obtained. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  propagating  Roses  from  cut- 
tings of  young  wood,  if  it  is  grown  under  glass,  any  time 
from  September  to  May  (provided  the  plants  are  entirely 
vigorous  and  healthy;  if  affected  with  red  spider,  mildew 
or  other  disease,  failure  to  root  cuttings  satisfactorily  will 
be  certain);  during  the  months  of  June,  July  and  August, 
it  is  a  process  requiring  great  care  and  attention.  We, 
however,  grow  hundreds  of  thousands  in  this  way  by  the 
following  method  :  About  the  middle  of  May  we  plant 
out  our  "stock  plants,"  so  called,  though  they  are  young 
plants  from  three-inch  pots  (that  have  been  rooted  in  the 
January  previous)  on  the  greenhouse  benches,  in  three 
or  four  inches  of  rather  poor  soil,  containing  not  a  par- 


PROPAGATION  01s  ROSES  BY  CUTTINGS.  137 

ticle  of  manure,  the  object  being  to  produce  a  hard  and 
slender  woody  growth  of  cuttings,  instead  of  a  soft  and 
pithy  one.  Obtaining  cuttings  of  this  kind,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  rooting  them,  if  the  proper  attention  to  shad- 
ing and  watering,  already  described,  has  been  given.  I 
will  state,  however,  that  after  they  are  potted  off,  carefully 
shading  from  the  hot  sun  is  necessary  until  the  root  strikes 
through  to  the  side  of  the  pot.  I  have  found  it  to  be  a 
great  help  in  propagating  in  summer,  to  sift  a  thin  layer 
of  fine  moss,  sawdust,  or  cocoanut  fibre,  over  the  Rose  cut- 
tings after  potting.  This  keeps  them  moist,  acting  as  a 
mulch,  and  also,  after  they  have  rooted,  it  keeps  them 
cool  in  hot  weather,  both  materials  being  excellent  non- 
conductors. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  no  matter  how  healthy  Rose 
cuttings  may  be  when  growing  in  the  open  ground,  they 
can  rarely  be  got  in  condition,  during  the  summer 
months,  to  root.  I  have  tried  them  at  all  seasons  and  in 
all  conditions,  but  do  not  think  I  ever  made  a  success 
during  the  months  of  June,  July,  or  August.  They  in- 
variably drop  their  leaves,  and  this  means  failure  every 
time.  Why  they  should  do  so  more  than  those  grown 
inside,  I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  discover,  but  that 
such  are  the  facts,  any  one  trying  it  will  very  quickly  find 
out.  My  experience  in  this  matter  has  been  confined  to 
the  latitude  of  New  York.  I  believe  that  in  some  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  when  the  shoots  become  better 
ripened,  they  may  be  successfully  propagated  from  out- 
door wood  in  the  summer. 

Hybrid  Perpetual,  and  even  Monthly  Roses,  however, 
can  be  propagated  from  cuttings  of  well-ripened  hard  wood 
grown  in  the  open  ground,  put  in  in  October  or  Novem- 
ber in  any  place  (a  cold  greenhouse  or  a  cold  frame),  where 
they  can  be  kept  just  above  the  freezing  point  at  night — 
say  from  thirty-two  to  forty  degrees,  with  ten  to  fifteen 
degrees  more  during  the  day.  They  must  not  get  much 


138  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

frost,  though  a  few  degrees  would  do  no  harm,  except  to 
retard  them;  but  artificial  heat  above  forty  degrees  for 
any  length  of  time  to  hard-wood  cuttings  is  almost  cer- 
tain to  destroy  them.  I  remember,  some  years  ago,  my 
foreman  insisted  that  we  should  put  in  a  lot  of  primings 
of  several  new  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses  that  we  had  re- 
ceived in  December  from  Europe,  in  our  regular  propa- 
gating house.  I  told  him  it  was  useless,  but  he  insisted 
on  being  allowed  to  try.  I  gave  him  the  privilege,  pro- 
vided he  did  the  work  in  his  own  time  at  night.  He  worked 
most  diligently,  and  got  three  or  four  of  the  hands  to  help 
him  for  a  week  at  nights.  He  had  some  20,000  cuttings 
in  the  propagating  bench,  where  the  temperature  of  the 
sand  marked  sixty-five  degrees.  The  cuttings  threw  out 
shoots  an  inch  in  length,  call  used  beautifully,  and  up  to 
that  point,  any  one  who  had  not  gone  through  the  thing 
before,  would  have  said  that  the  operation  was  a  success. 
One  morning,  about  ten  days  after  putting  them  in,  he 
called  me  to  witness  his  victory  ;  but  I  astounded  him  by 
saying,  that  for  every  plant  he  made  from  the  20,000  cut- 
tings I  would  give  him  twenty-five  cents.  He  watched 
and  redoubled  his  care  ;  but  it  was  no  use.  In  less  than 
a  month  every  cutting  had  blackened  and  rotted. 

Had  the  temperature  of  the  sand  never  exceeded  forty 
degrees,  a  large  proportion  would  have  rooted  ;  but  it 
would  have  taken  three  or  four  months  to  do  so;  and  then 
the  results  are  never  so  satisfactory  as  when  cuttings  are 
made  from  the  green  wood,  taken  from  plants  growing 
under  glass.  When,  however,  there  is  no  greenhouse  at 
hand,  but  only  cold  frames,  such  as  are  used  for  Cabbage, 
Lettuce,  Pansy,  or  Daisy  plants,  the  hard-wood  cuttings 
of  Roses  placed  in  such  in  October,  if  not  too  much 
frozen,  will  be  rooted  by  April.  One  of  our  market  gar- 
deners here  has  followed  the  plan  for  twenty  years.  His 
cold  frames,  where  he  keeps  his  Cabbage  plants,  are  well 
sheltered,  and  he  roots  thousands  of  Hybrid  Perpetual 


PROPAGATION   OF    ROSES   BY   CUTTINGS.  139 

Rose  cuttings  by  simply  sticking  them  between  the  rows 
of  Cabbage  plants.  He  thus  gets  four  or  five  hundred  in 
a  three  by  six  sash  without  serious  detriment  to  the  Cab- 
bage plants,  as  the  cuttings  are  leafless,  and  look  like 
dried  sticks  until  the  Cabbage  plants  are  taken  out  in 
spring.  The  cuttings  then  begin  to  leaf  out,  and  are 
rooted  sufficiently  to  pot  by  the  1st  of  May. 

PROPAGATING   ROSES   IN  THE   SOUTHERN   STATES. 

The  method  of  propagating  Roses  at  the  South  is  very 
simple,  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston,  S.  C., 
Savanna,  Ga.,  or  in  almost  any  part  of  Florida.  There, 
the  long,  heated  summers  raise  the  temperature  of  the 
sandy  soil  as  high  as  that  of  the  atmosphere  at  night  in 
the  winter  months,  if  not  higher,  forming,  in  fact,  a  sort 
of  natural  hot-bed.  All  that  is  necessary  to  do  in  such  a 
case  is  to  make  cuttings  of  Roses,  either  Monthly  or  Hy- 
brid Perpetual,  in  lengths  of  five  or  six  inches,  and  make 
a  trench  deep  enough  to  plant  them,  leaving  only  one  or 
two  eyes  or  buds  above  ground.  Care  must  be  taken  to 
firm  the  cuttings  well  in  with  the  foot,  so  as  to  exclude 
the  air.  The  cuttings  may  be  set  in  the  trenches  four  to 
six  inches  apart,  and  two  or  three  feet  between  the  lines. 
Cuttings  of  Roses  planted  in  this  way,  in  these  or  similar 
localities,  in  November  and  December,  will  form  roots  by 
February  or  March  ;  and  if  left  to  grow  where  they  were 
placed,  without  being  disturbed,  will  have  made  growths 
of  from  one  to  five  feet  by  the  following  September,  ac 
cording  to  the  variety  or  class.  The  cuttings  of  Roses 
grown  South  are  best  got  from  the  North. 

PROPAGATION    BY   LAYERING. 

Propagation  by  layering  in  the  usual  way,  in  the  soil, 
is  but  little  practised  now-a-days,  since  the  ways  of  root- 
ing plants  by  cuttings  have  been  so  greatly  simplified  ; 
but  occasionally  some  one  may  want  a  few  plants  of  a 


140  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Rose  or  other  shrub  growing  in  the  open  ground  who 
has  not  other  ways  of  propagation  at  command,  when 
this  method  may  be  safely  adopted. 

Although  layering  may  be  done  with  the  ripened  wood 
of  vines  or  shrubs  of  the  growth  of  the  previous  season, 
yet  it  is  preferable  to  use  the  shoot  of  the  present  year 
in  its  half-green  state  ;  for  example,  a  Rose  or  flowering 
shrub  is  pruned  in  the  usual  way  in  spring  ;  by  June  or 
July  it  will  have  made  strong  shoots,  one,  two  or  three 
feet  in  length  from  or  near  the  base  of  the  plant.  Take 
the  shoot  then  in  the  left  hand  (after  having  stripped  it 
of  its  leaves  for  a  few  inches  on  each  side  of  where  it  is 
to  be  cut),  keep  the  fingers  under  the  shoot,  and  make  a 
clean  cut  on  the  upper  part,  an  inch  or  so  in  length,  and 
to  about  half  the  thickness  of  the  shoot,  then  slightly 
twist  the  "  tongue  "  or  cut  part  to  one  side.  Having 
opened  a  shallow  trench,  fasten  the  branch  down  with  a 
hooked  peg,  and  cover  with  earth.  It  is  a  good  plan  to 
place  a  flat  stone  over  the  buried  part  of  the  layer,  to  pre- 
vent the  soil  from  drying  out. 

This  plan  of  cutting  the  shoot  on  the  upper  side,  I  have 
never  seen  in  illustrations  showing  the  manner  of  layer- 
ing, it  being  usually  made  either  on  the  side  or  below  ;  but 
I  have  found  in  practice,  that  it  is  much  the  safest  plan, 
as  the  "  tongue,"  when  cut  on  the  top  part  of  the  shoot, 
has  far  less  chance  of  being  broken  off. 

PROPAGATION   BY   LAYERING   IK   POTS. 

This  is  the  process  of  layering  shoots  or  runners  of 
plants  in  pots,  so  that,  when  the  root  forms  in  the  pot, 
the  plant  can  be  detached  without  injury  to  it,  as  the 
roots  are  confined  exclusively  to  the  soil  in  the  pot.  Lay- 
ering plants  in  pots  can  be  done  with  Roses,  vines  or 
shrubs  of  any  kind,  with  always  more  certainty  of  mak- 
ing a  plant  quicker  than  by  the  ordinary  way  of  layering 
the  shoot  in  the  soil,  because  when  lifted  there  is  no  dis- 


PROPAGATING    ROSES.  141 

fcurbance  of  the  roots.  This  method  of  propagating 
Strawberries  has  been  largely  practised  during  the  past 
ten  years  in  the  United  States,  and  is  now  a  favorite 
method. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
PROPAGATING  ROSES  BY  GRAFTING  AND  BUDDING. 

This  is  the  system  almost  entirely  used  in  Europe, 
and  although  it  has  the  disadvantage  of  necessitating 
watchfulness  in  removing  the  suckers  that  come  from  the 
stock,  it  is  no  doubt  the  quickest  way  that  new  varieties 
can  be  increased  ;  besides,  in  many  weak-growing  kinds, 
it  imparts  greater  vigor  to  the  plant.  We  have  found  it  to 
be  the  only  method  of  renewing  the  weakened  vitality  of 
kinds  that  have  been  injured  by  over  propagation  from  cut- 
tings, or  by  continuous  forcing  for  winter  flowers,  which 
is  well  known  has  so  weakened  many  of  the  kinds  used 
for  that  purpose,  that  failures  the  past  few  years  have  in- 
creased largely.  The  main  reason  why  the  grafted  plant 
imparts  greater  vigor  is,  that  the  operation,  as  usually 
performed,  compels  the  stock  to  be  rested  for  several 
months;  it  is  well  known  that,  in  the  way  Eoses  are 
usually  propagated  from  cuttings,  they  are  taken  from 
plants  that  have  had  no  rest.  If  we  would  attain  the 
greatest  vigor  in  a  Rose  plant,  a  proper  amount  of  rest  is 
imperatively  demanded.  The  "  Manetti "  is  the  stock 
most  generally  preferred  for  grafting  or  budding  roses. 
They  are  usually  imported  from  England,  costing  $6 
to  $7  per  1,000.  When  received  in  November,  they 
are  potted  in  three  inch  pots,  kept  free  from  fire  heat, 
in  cold  houses  or  frames,  or  covered  by  leaves  in  the 
open  ground,  until  January,  February,  or  March.  The 
operation  of  grafting  is  very  simple,  and  is  done  by  the 


142  PKACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

method  shown  in  the  engravings,  figure  33;  it  is  the  sim- 
ple "  splice  graft,"  or  "  whip  graft."  In  our  opinion,  it 
makes  no  difference  what  form  is  used,  provided  that  care 
is  taken  that  a  complete  junction  is  made  on  at  least  one 
side ;  if  on  both  sides,  all  the  better.  After  the  graft 
has  been  placed  on  the  stock,  it  is  carefully  tied  up  with 
Raffia,  so  as  to  exclude  the  air  and  keep  the  graft  in 
place.  Some  prefer  to  cover  the  tie  with  grafting- wax, 
but  that  is  not  indispensable. 

The  temperature  of  the  greenhouse  or  frame,  m  which 
the  operation  of  grafting  Roses  is  done,  may  run  from 


Fig.  33.—  GRAFTING  THE  ROSE. 

sixty  to  seventy  degrees  at  night,  with  ten  degrees  higher 
during  the  day,  but  it  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  suc- 
cess that  the  pots  should  be  so  plunged  that  a  bottom 
heat  of  at  least  five  degrees  higher  than  the  air  of  the 
house  can  be  given.  This  must  be  done,  or  there  will 
not  be  complete  success.  This  bottom  heat  can  be  se- 
cured either  by  the  hot  water  pipes,  or  by  the  ordinary 
hot-bed,  or  by  using  a  foot  or  so  of  hot  manure  placed  on 
the  benches  in  the  greenhouse  ;  we  ourselves  use  the  latter 
plan,  enclosing  the  manure  by  sashes,  so  as  to  exclude  the 
air  until  the  grafts  have  "  taken."  That  plants  can  bo 


PUNTS  MOST   IN   DEMAND   IN  SPRING.  143 

quicker  made  by  grafting  than  by  cuttings,  there  is  no 
question.  When  the  American  Beauty  Rose  was  first 
sent  out  in  1885,  our  propagations  from  cuttings  made 
in  August  of  that  year,  grown  with  all  possible  care,  did 
not  attain  half  the  size  or  vigor  at  a  year  old  that  grafts 
put  on  Manetti  stocks  in  March,  1886,  made  in  five 
months.  In  other  words,  the  cutting  plants  required 
only  an  eight-inch  pot  in  August,  while  the  grafted  plants 
required  a  ten-inch  pot,  being  nearly  twice  the  height  and 
twice  the  breadth. 

Budding  Roses  is  usually  performed  on  stocks  planted 
out  in  the  open  ground  in  July  and  August,  or  as  late  as 
the  buds  will  take  ;  the  bud  is  usually  placed  low  enough 
on  the  stock,  so  that  it  can  be  earthed  up  to  protect  it  in 
winter.  Generally  only  the  hardy  or  Hybrid  Perpetual 
Roses  are  thus  budded.  It  is  practised  to  only  a  slight 
extent  by  some  of  our  florists  and  nurserymen  in  the 
United  States,  as  our  climate  is  not  so  suitable  for  the 
work  as  that  of  England  or  France;  besides,  the  low  rates 
at  which  Roses  are  now  sold  in  Europe,  make  the  opera- 
tion of  budding  Roses  in  the  open  ground  no  longer 
profitable  here,  on  account  of  our  higher  rates  of  labor. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

PLANTS  MOST  IN  DEMAND  IN  MARKET  IN  SPRING. 
GROWN  IN   GREENHOUSES. 

These  plants  are  grown  in  pots  in  greenhouses,  and  I 
will  arrange  them,  as  nearly  as  possible,  in  the  order  of 
their  importance  in  the  New  York  markets,  which  is 
perhaps,  as  good  a  criterion  as  can  be  fixed  upon  for  the 
whole  country. 

Roses. — These,  comprising  both  Monthly  and  Hybrid 
Perpetual  sorts,  are  usually  sold  in  four,  five  or  six  inch 


144  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

pots,  and  when  sold  in  open  market  must  be  in  bud  or 
bloom,  as  few  market  buyers  know  anything  of  Roses  by 
name,  hence  the  color  must  be  shown.  There  are  two 
methods  of  growing  Roses  for  market  purposes  ;  that  yet 
most  used  by  florists  is,  to  plant  the  young  Roses  that 
have  been  propagated  in  spring,  in  the  open  ground  in 
May,  lifting  when  they  have  attained  their  growth  in 
October  or  November,  and  placed  in  four,  five  or  six 
inch  pots,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plants.  The  plants 
are  then  placed  in  cold  pits,  or  cold  greenhouses,  where 
the  temperature  at  night  runs  from  thirty-five  to  forty- 
five  degrees,  with  ten  degrees  higher  in  day-time,  as  for 
the  best  development  of  strong  root-growth  the  temper- 
ature must  be  kept  low.  After  the  pots  are  filled  with 
healthy  white  roots,  which  will  be  about  the  end  of  Feb- 
ruary or  March,  they  may  be  given  a  temperature  of  ten 
degrees  higher,  but  great  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  too 
high  a  temperature  until  they  have  formed  roots,  or  tho 
chances  are  if  they  do  not  die  outright  they  will  be  so  en- 
feebled as  to  be  worthless.  The  Tea  or  Monthly  Roses 
require  a  higher  temperature  than  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals. 

The  best  monthly  kinds  for  market  are  :  Hermosa, 
Agrippina,  Perle  des  Jardins,  Sunset,  Bennett,  American 
Beauty,  The  Bride,  Chas.  Rivoli,  Duchess  de  Brabant, 
Marie  Griiilott,  Souvenir  d'un  Ami,  and  La  Phoenix. 
These  comprise  all  shades  of  color,  are  all  free  blooming, 
of  easy  growth.  For  full  descriptions,  see  florists'  cata- 
logues. 

Of  the  hardy  Hybrid  Perpetual  class,  the  following  are 
found  to  be  the  freest  blooming,  and  having  the  greatest 
7ariety  of  color  that  can  be  had  in  a  dozen  sorts.  Baroness 
Rothschild,  Merveille  de  Lyon,  Anna  de  Diesbach,  Magna 
Charta,  Ball  of  Snow,  Jacqueminot,  Paul  Neron,  Auguste 
Mie,  Marie  Bauman,  Madam  Gabriel  Luizet,  Louis  Van 
Houtte  and  Paeonia.  For  descriptions,  see  catalogues. 

Of  Climbing  Roses  there  are  only  some  few  desirable 


PLANTS   MOST  IN   DEMAND   IN   SPRING.  145 

ones  that  are  hardy  in  this  latitude,  among  which  are  the 
Blush  and  Crimson  Boursalt,  Russell's  Cottage,  Prairie 
Queen  and  Baltimore  Belle. 

Of  the  monthly  varieties  of  Climbing  Roses  there  is  a 
greater  variety  of  color,  but  none  of  these  are  sufficiently 
hardy  to  stand  our  winters  north  of  Richmond,  Va. 
Among  the  best  of  the  Climbing  Monthly  Roses  are  : 
The  New  Waltham,  Gloire  de  Dijon,  James  Sprunt, 
Mareschal  Niel,  Setina,  Lamarque,  Madam  Berrard  and 
Cloth  of  Gold;  these  represent  all  colors.  Descriptions 
will  be  found  in  the  catalogues.  Next  in  importance  as  a 
market  plant,  is  the 

Zonal  Geranium  (Pelargonium  zonale). — Properly 
called,  if  we  followed  strict  botanical  correctness,  "  Pe- 
largonium." The  true  genus  Geranium,  being  herba- 
ceous perennial  plants,  natives  of  nearly  all  parts  of 
this  country  ;  but  common  usage  has  dubbed  the  Zonale 
Pelargonium  "  Geranium,"  both  here  and  in  England, 
and  it  would  only  lead  to  confusion  to  use  the  true  botan- 
ical name  now.  Of  this,  the  grandest  of  all  our  summer 
flowering  plants,  or,  for  that  matter,  of  winter  flowering, 
there  are  now  hundreds  of  varieties  under  name,  both 
double,  semi-double  and  single,  running  through  all 
shades  from  pure  white  to  pink,  to  scarlet,  to  crimson, 
in  every  gradation  of  shade.  It  is  useless  here  to  name 
varieties ;  the  catalogues  teem  with  new  and  improved 
kinds  each  year,  and  we  again  refer  the  reader  to  these. 
In  our  own  business,  we  find  the  sale  for  Geraniums  in- 
creasing more  rapidly  than  that  of  any  other  plant  we 
grow,  particularly  for  the  semi-double  kinds,  which 
flower,  many  of  them,  quite  as  freely  as  the  single  kinds, 
and  have  the  merit  of  not  dropping  their  petals  when 
cut  or  when  dashed  with  rain.  From  the  cuttings  made 
during  winter,  we  repot  and  harden  off  our  "stock  "  plants 
in  cold  frames,  so  that  we  can  with  safety  plant  them 


146  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

out  in  the  open  ground  here  the  first  week  in  May;  this 
can  be  done  in  this  latitude  with  perfect  safety,  provided 
the  plants  have  been  well  hardened,  as  when  thus  hard- 
ened, even  if  the  thermometer  falls  to  the  freezing  point, 
which  it  sometimes  does  with  us  in  the  first  week  in 
May,  they  will  not  be  injured.  We  generally  plant  them 
in  beds,  eighteen  inches  apart  each  way,  so  that  they  can 
be  easily  worked  by  the  wheel  hoe,  and  also  to  give  them 
room  enough  to  develop  the  shoots  from  which  the  cut- 
tings are  to  be  taken  in  the  fall.  I  find  it  best  to  take  off 
the  cuttings  at  different  times,  two  or  three  weeks  apart, 
to  guard  against  accident.  While  the  Geranium  roots 
freely  at  certain  seasons,  when  the  conditions  are  all 
right,  yet  I  have  seen  a  batch  of  10,000  cuttings  nearly 
all  fail.  They  were  put  in  in  September,  when  the 
plants  were  growing  vigorously,  and  the  shoots  full  of 
sap.  The  time  to  put  in  the  cuttings  should  be  chosen 
after  a  spell  of  dry  weather,  such  as  would  harden 
and  to  some  extent  ripen  the  growth.  Cuttings  in  this 
condition,  put  in  in  the  usual  way  the  first  week  in  Octo- 
ber, will  root  freely  in  ten  or  twelve  days,  although  cut- 
tings taken  from  the  plant  the  first  week  in  November 
will  be  still  safer.  There  is  an  advantage  in  having 
them  early,  however,  as  each  plant  can  be  doubled  or 
quadrupled  by  taking  the  tops  from  the  plants  as  they 
grow.  Geraniums  are  sold  usually  in  four  and  five  inch 
pots ;  it  is  a  great  saving  in  weight  to  use  as  small  a  pot 
as  it  is  possible  in  which  to  flower  the  plants,  but 
such  plants  as  Geraniums  must  have  plenty  of  food,  else 
they  will  not  develop  flowers  freely.  A  good  plan,  when 
the  pofe  is  full  of  roots,  and  it  is  wished  to  dispense  with 
a  further  shift  into  a  larger  pot,  is  to  "top  dress"  the 
pot  with  a  compost  of  six  parts  soil,  six  parts  rotted 
manure  and  one  part  bone;  "top  dressing"  is  the  re- 
moval of  an  inch  or  so  of  the  exhausted  soil  from  the  top 
of  the  pot  and  replacing  with  this  mixture.  We  use  this 


PLANTS  MOST  IN   DEMAND  IN  SPRING.  147 

plan  with  Eoses  and  many  other  plants  with  excellent 
results. 

The  Fancy  Pelargoniums  (Pelargonium  grandiflorum) , 
or  "  Lady  Washington  Geraniums,"  as  they  are  called  in 
most  of  the  Eastern  States,  require  in  all  respects  nearly 
the  same  culture  as  the  Zonal,  except  that  they  are  best 
kept  in  pots  during  summer  when  wanted  for  stock. 

Fuchsias,  Heliotropes,  Lantanas  and  Petunias  require 
a  little  higher  temperature  than  Geraniums,  but  their 
general  culture  is  very  similar  when  grown  during  the 
winter  for  market ;  but  Astilbe  (incorrectly  Spircea), 
Carnations,  Dicentra,  Feverfew,  Hollyhocks,  Pinks,  and 
all  other  half-hardy  plants,  should  be  treated  like  Roses — 
that  is,  kept  in  a  low  temperature,  thirty-five  or  forty-five 
degrees  at  night  in  winter,  until  they  have  formed  new 
roots.  The  use  of  Hollyhocks  as  market  plants  may  be 
known  to  few  of  our  readers,  but  the  new  Dwarf  Holly- 
hock, "Crimson  Pyramid,"  has  proved  excellent  for  that 
purpose  in  the  New  York  markets,  and  if,  as  is  likely  to 
be  the  case,  it  comes  to  "  break  "  into  all  the  colors  of  the 
Hollyhock,  we  will  here  have  a  grand  and  showy  feature 
in  our  market  flowers.  The  seed  of  the  Hollyhock, 
"  Crimson  Pyramid,"  if  sown  in  August,  will  give  plants 
strong  enough  to  be  suitable  for  five  or  six  inch  pots 
by  November,  when  they  should  be  kept  in  a  cool  green- 
house or  frame  until  March,  when,  if  started  in  heat  of 
sixty  degrees  at  night,  they  will  flower  abundantly  by  the 
middle  or  end  of  May.  This  Hollyhock  grows  to  a 
height  of  twelve  to  fifteen  inches,  forming  a  well-defined 
pyramid,  clothed  from  base  to  summit  with  rich,  crim- 
son semi-double  flowers.  Although  it  can  be  propagated 
from  cuttings,  it  is  best  grown  from  seeds,  which  it 
produces  freely  in  July  and  August. 


148  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE  CULTIVATION  OF  THE  VERBENA. 

This  would  seem  to  require  a  special  chapter.  Compar 
fltively  few  florists  have  success  in  growing  it,  aud  as  1 
have  grown  it  successfully  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  I 
have  confidence,  if  the  instructions  here  given  are  strictly 
followed,  that  it  can  be  successfully  grown  anywhere  and 
by  any  one.  The  principal  trouble  in  growing  the  Ver- 
bena is,  to  prevent  it  from  being  attacked  by  the  insect 
which  produces  the  black  rust,  or  Verbena  disease,  as  it 
is  sometimes  called.  I  will  make  the  starting  point  the 
first  of  April.  At  that  date  take  cuttings  from  healthy 
plants  ;  see  that  they  are  taken  in  the  condition  described 
in  the  chapter  on  Propagation — that  is,  that  they  are  in 
such  a  state  that  they  will  break  on  being  bent.  They  will 
root  fit  to  be  potted  off  in  eight  or  ten  days,  and  will  be 
fine,  healthy  plants  to  put  in  the  open  ground  in  thirty 
days  after.  Verbenas  are  not  at  all  particular  about  soil, 
provided  it  is  not  water-soaked  ;  we  have  planted  them 
on  soils  varying  from  almost  pure  sand  to  heavy  clay, 
and,  provided  it  was  enriched  by  manure,  there  was  but 
little  difference  in  the  growth  or  bloom.  Planted  out  in 
May,  by  August  they  will  have  spread  to  an  extent  of 
three  feet,  the  plants  profusely  covered  with  flowers  and 
seed-pods.  Now  at  this  time,  say  the  middle  of  August, 
this  profuse  flowering  and  seeding  of  course  lessens  the 
vitality  of  the  plant  and  puts  it  in  the  condition  to  invite 
the  attack  of  the  insect  which  causes  the  rust.  To  sus- 
tain the  vitality  of  the  plant  and  recuperate  its  exhausted 
forces,  we  cut  back  the  extremities  of  the  shoots  some  six 
inches,  in  all  plants  from  which  we  design  to  propagate, 
free  the  plants  of  decayed  leaves,  and  thin  out  where  too 
thick  at  the  center.  Then  we  fork  up  the  soil  around  each 


fflli  CULTIVATION  Of  THE  VERBENA.  149 

plant,  adding  a  compost  of  equal  parts  of  fresh  soil  and 
rotted  manure  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  inches. 
Young  shoots,  as  they  develop,  root  into  this  with  avid- 
ity, producing  a  soft  and  healthy  growth,  which,  by  the 
first  or  middle  of  October,  gives  us  just  the  style  of  cut- 
ting we  require.  Now  the  process  of  propagation  begins, 
which  may  be  carried  on  either  in  the  propagating  house 
in  the  usual  way,  or  by  the  saucer  system,  as  before  de- 
scribed ;  but  by  whichever  method  the  propagation  is  ef- 
fected, let  me  again  mention  the  importance  of  taking 
the  cutting  in  that  succulent  condition  in  which  it  will 
snap  on  being  bent. 

Do  not  attempt  to  pot  the  old  plant,  or  the  layers  of 
the  Verbena,  or  even  to  take  a  shoot  for  a  cutting  which 
has  formed  a  root  in  the  ground  ;  for  in  most  cases  the 
roots  so  formed  are  so  low  down  that  the  shoot  is  hard 
and  woody  at  that  point,  and  will  not  be  likely  to  pro- 
duce such  roots  as  will  give  a  healthy  growth.  It  is  by 
starting  wrong  in  the  fall,  and  impairing  the  vitality  of 
the  plant  and  placing  it  in  an  enfeebled  state,  that  disease 
is  invited. 

In  the  directions  given  in  the  chapter  on  Propagation 
great  importance  is  attached  to  the  necessity  of  potting 
off  cuttings  immediately  after  being  rooted.  If  this  is 
necessary  with  any  plant,  it  is  especially  so  with  the  Ver- 
bena, as  no  plant  is  more  susceptible  of  injury  from  allow- 
ing the  roots  to  become  elongated  and  hardened  in  the 
cutting  bench.  Cuttings  thus  neglected  make  hard,  slim 
plants,  which,  even  if  they  do  escape  the  insect  pest,  are 
not  likely  to  make  thrifty  plants.  On  potting  the  cut- 
tings, they  are  placed  in  a  greenhouse  or  frame,  and  shaded 
in  the  usual  way  for  two  or  three  days,  or  as  long  as  the 
condition  of  the  weather  may  require.  As  soon  as  they 
have  struck  root  in  the  soil  of  the  pots,  they  should  be  kept 
cool,  and  abundantly  supplied  with  air. 

Fire  heat  need  only  be  given  sufficient  to  keep  them 


f50  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

above  forty-five  degrees,  and  if  a  temperature  can  be  sus« 
tained  throughout  the  entire  winter  months  averaging 
fifty  degrees,  at  night,  and  not  to  exceed  fifteen  degrees 
higher  during  the  day  until  the  middle  of  March,  there  is 
no  doubt  whatever  of  having  a  healthy  and  vigorous  stock, 
providing  proper  attention  has  been  given  to  watering 
and  to  fumigation  by  tobacco. 

Continued  fumigation  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in 
the  culture  of  all  plants  under  glass,  but  it  is  perfectly 
indispensable  to  the  welfare  of  the  Verbena.  In  all  our 
Verbena  houses  we  fumigate,  on  an  average,  two  or  three 
times  each  week  ;  we  do  not  wait  to  see  the  aphis  or  Green- 
fly, but  apply  the  antidote  solely  as  a  preventive.  No 
omission  is  so  inexcusable  as  that  of  permitting  plants  to 
be  injured  by  this  insect. 

Although  I  have  elsewhere  stated  (see  chapter  on  In- 
sects) that  the  very  minute  one  which  produces  the 
troublesome  "black  rust"  on  the  Verbena  seems  invul- 
nerable to  the  fumes  of  tobacco  smoke,  yet  I  have  a  belief 
that  our  unremitting  practice  of  fumigating  may  be, 
after  all,  the  true  reason  of  our  comparative  exemption 
from  its  attack ;  for  although  this  insect  may  have  the 
faculty  of  imbedding  itself  in  the  leaf  on  the  approach  of 
danger,  its  eggs,  being  stationary  and  exposed,  may  be 
destroyed  by  the  action  of  the  smoke  ;  at  all  events,  we 
have  repeatedly  brought  varieties  of  Verbena  severely 
affected  by  the  rust  into  our  collection,  which  in  a  few 
weeks  appeared  entirely  free  from  the  disease,  showing 
that  our  treatment,  in  some  way  or  other,  destroyed 
the  enemy. 

There  is  no  question  that  this  insect,  so  fatal  to  the 
health  of  the  Verbena,  is  most  active  and  destructive  in 
a  high  temperature  ;  hence  we  find  that  whenever  Ver- 
benas are  kept  in  a  mixed  greenhouse  collection,  where 
Fuchsias,  Pelargoniums,  Heliotrope,  etc. ,  are  grown  (us- 
ually in  night  temperature  of  fifty-five  or  sixty  degrees), 


PLANTS  MOST  SOLD  IN  MARKET  IK  SPRING.        151 

the  Verbena  becomes  affected  by  black  rust,  showing  that 
its  minute  enemy  is  at  work  sapping  its  life  current. 

Verbenas,  whether  grown  for  sale  or  for  private  use,  if 
we  would  have  plants  in  fine  health  and  vigor  in  May, 
should  not  be  propagated  sooner  than  January.  To  be 
sure,  the  "  stock  "  plants,  to  produce  the  cuttings,  must 
be  raised  previous,  in  October  or  November,  but  such 
plants  become  exhausted  by  spring  and  are  inferior  to 
later  propagations.  The  "stock"  plants,  from  which  we 
propagate,  are  usually  thrown  away  by  March  1st. 

In  our  own  practice  the  necessities  of  our  business  re- 
quire us  to  put  in  an  almost  uniform  number  of  cuttings 
every  two  weeks  from  November  to  April  ;  the  last  lot, 
which  we  pot  off  at  the  end  of  April,  usually  making  the 
finest  plants.  For  the  raising  of  Verbenas  from  seed,  see 
chapter  on  Propagation  by  Seeds. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE  PLANTS  MOST  SOLD  IN  MARKET  IN  SPRING. 
GROWN  IN   COLD   FRAMES. 

Pansies  are  the  most  important  of  the  millions  of 
plants  raised  in  cold  frames  now  sold  each  spring.  For 
our  manner  of  raising,  see  "  Pansies  "  in  chapter  entitled 
"Propagation  by  Seeds."  Also,  for  manner  of  con- 
structing "  cold  frames,"  see  chapter  under  that  head. 

Daisies  are  usually  raised  by  setting  out  the  stock 
plants  in  spring  in  some  cool  and  partially  shaded  place. 
If  they  grow  freely,  each  single  plant  set  &s.t  in  spring 
will  divide  to  a  dozen  or  more,  ready  to  be  set  ojt  in  the 
cold  frames  in  September  or  October.  Very  good  varie- 
ties can  also  be  raised  from  seed,  particularly  the  double 


l52  PRACTICAL  FLOKICULTUBE. 

white,  by  sowing  seed  in  August  and  transplanting  to 
cold  frames  in  October.  We  ourselves  raise  tens  of  thou- 
sands in  this  way,  as  we  have  not  suitable  soil  to  keep  the 
established  kinds,  that  are  propagated  by  division,  alive 
through  the  hot  summer. 

Cowslips,  Primroses  and  Auriculas  are  beautiful  spring 
plants,  when  kept  over  as  are  Pansies  in  cold  frames. 
They  are  also  increased  by  division,  like  the  Daisy,  but 
the  process  is  slow  and  they  are  often,  like  the  Daisy, 
difficult  to  keep  through  our  hot  and  dry  summers,  but 
they  can  all  be  easily  raised  from  seed,  which  should  be 
sown  about  the  same  time  in  spring  as  we  sow  the  Chin- 
ese Primula.  See  Chapter  22  on  Propagation  by  Seeds. 

Myosotis  (Forget-Me-Nots),— When  wintered  over  in 
cold  frames,  the  Forget-me-nots  bloom  freely  in  early 
spring.  They  can  easily  be  kept  over  the  summer  by 
planting  in  some  cool,  partially  shaded  place,  and  in- 
creased by  dividing  in  fall,  or  they  may  be  grown  from 
seed,  exactly  as  recommended  for  Cowslip  or  Primrose. 

In  addition  to  the  plants  just  named  as  being  grown  in 
cold  frames,  to  bloom  in  early  spring,  the  following  half 
hardy  plants  that  bloom  later  in  the  season  can  all  best 
be  raised  from  seed  and  grown  in  cold  frames  during 
winter :  Aquilegia,  Delphinium,  Digitalis  and  Holly- 
hocks. Although  these  are  all  hardy  in  this  latitude,  we 
find  that  better  plants  can  be  had  the  first  season  from 
seed  by  protecting  them  in  cold  frames.  The  distance 
apart  at  which  plants  are  set  in  cold  frames  must  be  gov- 
erned by  the  size  and  kinds ;  we  ourselves  x*1?*^  from  10Q 
*o  200  -v  a  three  by  six  foot  sash. 


3  FOR  WIKDOW   DECO&ATlOtf.  153 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

PLANTS  MOST  IN  DEMAND  FOR  WINDOW  DECORATION 
IN  WINTER. 

For  this  purpose  most  kinds  of  plants  should  be  grown 
in  pots  during  the  summer  ;  it  is  more  troublesome  to 
obtain  good  results  by  lifting  plants  in  the  fall  that  have 
been  planted  in  the  open  ground,  although  such  plants  as 
Bouvardias,  Carnations  and  Chrysanthemums,  if  lifted 
carefully  and  placed  in  pots  in  September  or  October,  and 
shaded  until  they  have  taken  root,  will  do  quite  as  well 
as  if  they  had  been  grown  in  pots  during  the  summer, 
but  Abutilons,  Azaleas,  Begonias,  Cinerarias,  Calceo- 
larias, Chinese  Primulas,  Callas,  Crotons,  Camellias, 
Daphnes,  Dracenas,  Fuchsias,  Ferns,  Geraniums,  Genis- 
tas, Heliotropes,,  Impatiens,  Jessamines,  Libonias,  Palms, 
Salvias,  Solanums,  Tropaeolums,  and  Roses,  all  of  which 
are  suitable  as  decorative  plants  for  greenhouse,  parlor, 
or  sitting-room,  iii  winter,  had  all  better  be  grown  in 
pots  during  the  summer,  shifted,  of  course,  as  their 
necessities  require,  into  larger  pots.  On  an  average,  six- 
inch  pots  would  be  sufficiently  large  to  flower  them  in 
during  winter,  though  strong  growing  species  may  be 
grown  to  a  size  requiring  eight  or  nine  inch  pots.  All 
the  plants  named  above,  with  the  exception  of  Bouvar- 
dias, Begonias,  Crotons,  Dracenas,  Ferns,  Palms  and 
Salvias,  will  do  well  in  a  temperature  of  fifty  degrees  at 
night,  with  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  higher  in  the  day-time; 
these  last  named  will  require  about  ten  degrees  higher. 
Nearly  all  plants  grown  inside  in  winter,  require  great 
care  in  watering.  Very  little  injury  can  be  done  to 
plants  by  being  freely  watered  when  growing  vigorously 
in  bright  weather  from  May  to  October,  but  in  the  dull, 
dark  days  from  November  to  March,  it  is  better  to  adopt 
the  safe  old  rule  never  to  water  a  plant  unless  the  surface 


154  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

of  the  soil  of  the  pot  or  bench  indicates  that  it  is  dry  by 
becoming  lighter  in  color ;  then  water  may  be  given 
freely,  provided  that  there  is  sufficient  drainage  to  allow 
it  to  pass  off  readily.  Avoid  manure  water  and  all  stimu- 
lants to  plants  in  winter,  until  the  days  begin  to  lengthen 
and  the  sun  gets  to  be  brighter  in  February. 

The  insects  that  attack  plants  used  for  winter  dec- 
oration are,  principally,  the  aphis,  or  Green -fly,  the 
Red-spider,  and  the  Mealy-bug.  The  first  is  easily 
killed  or  warded  off  by  the  use  of  tobacco,  either  as 
smoke,  dust,  or  steeped  so  as  to  form  a  liquid  of  the 
color  of  strong  tea.  The  Red-spider  is  not  so  easily  dis- 
lodged, and  can  only  be  kept  under  by  continued  spong- 
ing of  the  leaves,  mainly  on  the  under  side,  or  by  heavy 
syringing.  The  Mealy-bug  is  the  most  difficult  of  all 
insects  to  get  rid,  of,  but  the  use  of  Fir  tree  oil,  diluted 
in  the  proportion  of  one  pint  of  the  oil  to  five  gallons  of 
water,  if  syringed  on  the  plants  once  a  week,  will  entirely 
suppress  the  Mealy-bug  ;  for  small  lots,  dipping  the  plants 
into  the  mixture  is  the  best  way.  We  have  found  the 
use  of  Fir  tree  oil,  diluted  as  above,  an  excellent  means 
of  keeping  down  the  ravages  of  all  insect  life  by  steadily 
syringing  with  it  at  least  once  each  week.  For  further 
instructions,  see  chapter  on  Insects. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

CULTURE  OF  WINTER  FLOWERING  PLANTS  FOR  CU 
FLOWERS. 

Since  the  first  edition  of  "Practical  Floriculture"  was 
written,  in  18G8,  the  varieties  of  plants  used  for  cut 
flowers  in  winter,  as  well  as  the  methods  of  culture,  have 
so  changed  that  the  instructions  then  given  would  be  of 
but  little  use  now.  Camellia  flowers  that  were  then  the 
most  valued,  are  now  almost  entirely  discarded.  Tube- 


ROSE   GROWING   IK   WIKTEE.  155 

roses  that  averaged  $8  per  100  from  November  to  June, 
are  now  hardly  salable  at  any  price  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York,  Boston  or  Philadelphia.  Rose  buds  have  for  the 
past  ten  years  nearly  supplanted  all  else  in  the  way 
of  cut  flowers,  and  still  continue  to  do  so,  many  hun- 
dreds of  acres  of  greenhouses  now  being  used  for  their 
culture.  As  Roses,  then,  are  the  most  important  of  all 
flowers  for  this  purpose,  I  will  begin  with  their  culture, 
following  with  the  other  plants  used  for  cut  flowers  in 
winter,  in  the  order  of  their  present  importance. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 
ROSE    GROWING    IN    WINTER. 

To  propagate  the  plants  to  produce  Roses  in  winter, 
strong,  healthy  cuttings  are  put  in  to  root  at  any  time 
from  September  to  February.  We  keep  the  sand  in  our 
cutting  benches  about  sixty-five  or  seventy  degrees  Fahr., 
with  the  temperature  of  the  house  ten  degrees  less.  Rose 
cuttings,  under  these  conditions  (if  the  cuttings  have 
been  taken  from  plants  in  vigorous  growth,  and  are  free 
from  mildew  and  insects),  will  root  in  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  days,  and  are  then  potted  in  any  good  soil, 
in  two  and  a  half  inch  pots,  and  placed  in  a  greenhouse 
having  a  night  temperature  of  about  fifty-five  degrees, 
with  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  more  in  the  day-time.  (See 
chapter  on  Propagation  of  Plants. ) 

The  young  Roses  are  regularly  shifted  into  larger  pots 
as  soon  as  the  "ball"  gets  filled  with  roots,  great  care 
being  taken  that  the  plants  at  no  time  get  pot-bound. 
Syringing  is  done  once  a  day  to  keep  down  red  spider, 
and  fumigating  by  burning  tobacco  stems  to  kill  the  aphis 
or  Green-fly  must  be  done  twice  a  week.  With  such 


156  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

attention,  plants  which  were  put  in  as  cuttings  at  the 
seasons  named  above,  by  the  middle  of  June  will  be  from 
one  to  one  foot  and  a  half  in  height,  with  roots  enough 
to  fill  a  six-inch  pot.  I  may  state  that  when  shifted  from 
a  four-inch  to  a  six-inch  pot,  two  inches  of  drainage  is 
used,  so  that  when  the  roses  are  planted  in  the  shallow 
benches,  the  "  ball "  of  roots  taken  from  the  six-inch  pot 
will  be  but  four  inches  deep,  or  about  the  depth  of  the 
soil  of  the  bench.  They  should  at  this  date,  or  before, 
be  placed  out-of-doors,  and  stood  on  rough  gravel  or  cin- 
ders, so  as  to  make  certain  of  free  drainage.  It  is  not 
the  universal  practice  to  put  Roses  out  in  the  open  air  ; 
in  some  sections,  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  salt  water, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep  them  clear  of  mildew  when 
placed  out  of  doors  in  summer,  so  that  now  some  of  our 
largest  and  most  successful  growers  keep  them  all  the 
time  under  glass,  giving  as  much  ventilation  as  possible. 
If  intended  to  be  grown  in  pots,  the  shifting  into 
larger  pots  should  be  repeated  whenever  the  ball  gets 
filled  with  roots  (which  is  usually  in  about  four  or  five 
weeks  after  every  shift),  until  the  1st  of  October,  when 
they  will  have  reached  a  size  requiring  a  pot  of  eight  or 
nine  inches  in  diameter.  These  pots  should  be  amply 
drained  with  broken  pots  or  charcoal,  using  soil  com- 
posed of  three  parts  decomposed  sod  from  a  good  loamy 
soil  to  one  of  well-rotted  cow  manure,  or  the  soil  here- 
after advised  for  benches  will  do  equally  well.  They  are 
then  in  condition  for  winter  forcing,  no  further  shifting 
being  required.  But  if  they  are  to  be  planted  out  on 
benches,  or  in  solid  beds  of  soil,  the  planting  should  be 
made  from  the  pots  from  the  1st  of  June  to  the  15th  of 
August,  but  the  sooner  the  better. 

SOLID   BEDS  AND   RAISED   BENCHES. 

There  is  quite  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
Roses  can  be  best  grown   in    solid   beds  or  on   raised 


EOSE  GROWING   IN  WINTER.  157 

benches.  We  believe  that  it  really  makes  but  little 
difference,  as  we  find  them  grown  with  nearly  equal  suc- 
cess by  both  methods  where  drainage  is  perfect,  although 
the  method  mainly  in  use  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York 
(where  Roses  are  at  present  better  grown  than  in  any 
other  section  of  the  country),  is  the  raised  bench  system. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  raised  bench  plan 
is  much  more  expensive,  as  it  is  found  (to  have  the  best 
results),  that  the  plants  must  be  renewed  each  year  ;  that 
is,  that  the  young  plants  that  have  been  propagated  in 
January  and  grown  on  in  pots  and  planted  out  in  June  or 
July,  to  produce  flowers  during  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring 
months,  must  be  thrown  away  in  May  or  June  and  new 
beds  formed  with  fresh  soil,  replanted  again  as  before  with 
young  plants,  and  so  on  each  season  ;  occasionally  crops  are 
carried  over  for  two  or  three  years  on  the  raised  benches, 
but  rarely  with  as  good  results.  The  small  quantity  of  soil 
gets  exhausted,  and,  besides,  there  is  a  greater  chance  for 
injury  from  the  rose  bug  the  second  season  on  raised 
benches,  which,  however,  is  not  so  much  the  case  when 
planted  in  solid  benches,  as  in  that  case  the  roots  get 
stronger  and  deeper.  It  is  my  impression  that  even  Tea 
Eoses  will  yet  be  mainly  grown  in  solid  benches.  There 
are  many  instances  of  marked  success  by  this  plan.  One 
of  my  near  neighbors  has  had  a  fixed  roof  greenhouse 
eighteen  by  seventy  feet,  heated  by  a  flue,  planted  over 
twenty  years  ago  with  Tea  Eoses,  that  is  yet  in  the  high- 
est condition  of  health  and  vigor,  giving  abundance  of 
grand  buds  throughout  the  entire  season.  They  were 
planted  originally  one  foot  apart,  but  have  been  cut  out 
so  that  they  stand  three  feet  apart  and  are  now  bushes 
six  feet  high.  No  pruning  is  done  except  to  shorten  the 
shoots  when  they  get  against  the  glass,  and  to  thin  out 
the  weak  shoots.  The  most  approved  greenhouses  used 
for  Eose  growing  in  winter  are  about  twenty  feet  wide, 
and  are  what  is  known  as  three-quarter  span  (see 


158 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


ROSE  GROWING  IN  WINTER. 


159 


Greenhouse  Structures);  that  is,  three-quarters  of  the 
glass  roof  slopes  to  the  south  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty 
degrees,  while  the  other  quarter  slopes  north  at  an 
angle  of  twenty  degrees,  giving  a  base  space  for  the 
benches  on  which  the  Eoses  are  to  be  planted  (taking  out 
the  walks),  of  about  fifteen  feet.  The  benches  may  be 
either  a  level  platform,  or  divided  into  four  or  five  plat- 
forms about  three  feet  wide,  or  so  as  to  be  at  about  equal 
distances  from  the  glass  (see  end  section,  Greenhouse 
Structures) ;  the  bottom  of  the  benches  may  be  from  three, 
four,  or  five  to  six  feet  from  the  glass,  as  desired. 

Fig.  34  shows  a  perspective  view  of  a  Hose  house  put 
up  for  us  on  Jersey   City  Heights,  N.J.,  in  1884,  by 


Fig.  35.—  CBOSS-SECTION  OF  ROSE  HOUSE. 

Lord  &  Burnham.  The  length  is  350  feet  by  20  feet 
in  width.  It  is  believed  to  be  as  near  what  the  best 
model  of  a  Rose  house  should  be  as  has  been  con- 
structed. The  frame  is  of  iron  throughout ;  the  glass 
used  is  double-thick,  second  quality  French,  size  twenty 
by  twelve,  put  in  the  twelve  way.  The  heating  is  done 
by  steam,  the  eleven  dots  indicating  the  number  of  one 
and  a  quarter  inch  steam  pipes  (see  cross-section  figure 
35).  Although  eleven  pipes  are  put  in,  not  more  than 
eight  or  nine  of  these  are  used,  unless  in  extraordinarily 
severe  weather,  the  others  being  shut  off  by  valves.  The 


160  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

two  boilers  used  are  Lord  &  Burnham's  No.  5.  The  cost 
of  a  Rose  house  of  this  style,  complete  in  everything,  at 
present  prices,  is  about  twenty  dollars  per  running  foot, 
or  $7,000  for  the  350  feet ;  if  the  frame  had  been  con- 
structed of  wood  it  would  cost  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent.  less. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  bottom  heat  for  Roses,  so 
that  it  is  best  to  have  the  pipes  for  heating  run  under 
the  front  and  back  benches  of  the  rose  house,  with  none 
under  the  middle  benches,  as  in  this  way  the  space  under 
the  middle  benches  may  be  utilized  for  other  purposes. 

VENTILATION 

is  an  important  matter.  In  a  rose  hoiise  twenty  feet 
wide,  sufficient  ventilation  will  be  obtained  by  having 
lifting  sashes,  to  the  width  of  thirty  inches,  placed  along 
the  whole  of  the  roof  on  the  south  side,  hinging  them  so 
that  they  will  open  at  the  ridge  pole.  For  this  purpose 
the  patent  ventilating  apparatus  should  be  used,  which 
costs  from  fifty  to  sixty  cents  per  running  foot. 

SOIL    AND   BENCHES. 

The  soil  in  which  the  Roses  are  to  be  grown  should  not 
exceed  five  inches  in  depth,  the  boards  being  so  arranged 
as  to  allow  free  drainage  for  the  water.  Perhaps  the  best 
way  to  make  the  bottom  of  the  bench  is  to  use  wall  strips 
or  other  boards,  not  to  exceed  four  inches  wide,  leaving  a 
space  of  at  least  half  an  inch  between  the  boards  or  strips, 
so  as  to  make  certain  of  perfect  drainage.  The  bottom 
is  first  covered  with  thin  sods,  grass  side  down,  or  what 
in  our  opinion  is  better,  the  new  packing  material  called 
"  Excelsior,"  and  then  the  soil  is  placed  on  to  the  depth  of 
four  inches.  This  soil  is  made  from  sods  cut  three  or  four 
inches  thick  from  any  good,  loamy  pasture  land,  well 
chopped  up,  and  mixed  with  one-fourth  of  well-rotted 
cow  dung  to  three-fourths  of  sods.  In  our  own  practice 
we  use,  in  addition  to  the  cow  manure,  one-thirtieth  part 


ROSE  GROWING  IN  WINTER.  161 

of  pure  bone  dust.  It  is  perhaps  best  to  let  the  sod  be 
well  rotted  before  it  is  used,  although,  if  this  be  not  con- 
venient, it  will  do  fresh,  if  well  chopped  up.  Of  late 
years  we  have  used  the  Acme  harrow  to  break  and  mix 
up  with  the  manure  all  soil  used  for  Koses,  at  a  saving  of 
three-fourths  of  the  labor. 

DISTANCE  TO   PLANT. 

The  distance  for  Roses  such  as  I  describe  (those  that 
have  been  grown  in  six-inch  pots,  and  averaging  one  foot 
high),  should  be  one  foot  each  way,  so  as  to  get  the  full 
benefit  of  a  crop  by  January.  It  is  true  that,  if  planted 
twice  that  distance,  they  would  be  thick  enough  before 
spring;  but  they  will  not  fill  up  sufficiently  until  the 
middle  of  January,  if  planted  much  wider  than  one  foot, 
and  it  is  always  before  that  date  that  Roses  are  highest  in 
price.  The  temperature  at  Avhich  Roses  are  grown  in 
winter  is  an  average  of  fifty-five  degrees  at  night,  with 
ten  to  fifteen  degrees  higher  during  the  day.  Conse- 
quently, if  heated  by  hot  water,  in  this  latitude,  a  house 
twenty  feet  wide  will  require  eight  runs  of  four-inch  pipe 
to  maintain  that  heat ;  if  sixteen  feet  wide,  about  six 
runs  ;  and  if  twelve  feet  wide,  about  four  runs.  If  heated 
by  steam,  a  one-and-a-half-inch  pipe  will  be  about  equal 
to  a  four-inch  hot- water  pipe. 

WATERING  AND  MULCHING. 

Watering  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance,  and  re- 
quires some  experience  to  know  what  is  the  proper  con- 
dition. It  is  not  often  that  Roses  require  to  be  watered. 
The  heavy  syringing  necessary  each  forenoon  in  clear 
weather  to  keep  down  Red-spider  is  generally  sufficient  to 
keep  them  in  the  proper  condition  of  moisture;  of  course, 
good  judgment  must  be  used  to  syringe  heavier  in  warm, 
bright  weather,  when  the  plants  are  in  vigorous  growth, 
than  in  dull  weather,  or  when  the  plants  are  not  so  vigor- 


162  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

cms.  Better  to  err  on  the  side  of  dryness,  particularly 
from  October  to  March.  Whenever  there  are  indications 
of  the  soil  being  too  wet,  stop  syringing,  but  keep  the 
air  of  the  house  moist  by  watering  the  paths.  The  best 
growers  now  use  very  little  mulching  until  the  days  begin 
to  lengthen  in  February  or  March,  the  "food"  given 
being  usually  a  top  dressing  every  three  or  four  weeks, 
from  October  to  February,  of  half  an  inch  of  compost, 
consisting  of  two  parts  of  well-rooted  cow  dung,  to  one 
part  fresh  soil,  to  which  is  added  about  one-tenth  part  of 
pure  bone  dust.  Frequent  light  stirring  of  the  soil  is  of 
advantage  to  admit  air  to  the  roots  and  assist  the  evapor- 
ation of  moisture  from  the  soil. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  value  of 
liquid  manure  in  Rose  forcing  in  winter.  In  our  expe- 
rience, we  have  found  that  it  had  better  not  be  used  on 
Roses  growing  on  the  benches  until  about  February  1st, 
when  the  days  begin  to  lengthen  and  the  sun  becomes 
brighter.  In  the  case  of  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses  grow- 
ing in  pots,  that  have  been  started  from  dried  off  or  rested 
plants  about  October  1st,  which  should  come  into  bloom 
during  December  and  January,  it  is  well  to  water  such 
plants  once  a  week  with  liquid  manure,  so  as  to  get  the 
best  development  in  color  and  size  of  buds.  We  prefer 
liquid  manure  from  cow  dung  to  all  else.  It  is  perfectly 
safe,  no  matter  how  strong  it  is  made,  and  we  think  it  is 
more  lasting  in  its  effects  than  liquid  made  from  guano 
or  similar  fertilizers.  Fumigating  with  tobacco  smoke 
for  the  suppression  of  the  aphis  (Green-fly),  should  be 
done  twice  a  week  ;  or,  what  will  answer  equally  well,  a 
mulch  of  two  or  three  inches  of  tobacco  stems  spread  on 
the  walks  or  under  the  benches,  will  keep  off  the  green 
fly  by  renewing  it  every  five  or  six  weeks.  Rose  growers 
practice  this  method  now  almost  entirely,  as  it  is  quite  as 
effective  and  safer  than  fumigating,  as  that  less  or  «aore 
discolors  the  buds. 


ROSE  GROWING  IN  WINTER.          163 
PRUNING. 

But  little  pruning  is  done  to  Tea  Roses  until  they 
begin  to  get  too  thick,  towards  spring;  the  "blind 
wood"  should  then  be  gradually  and  judiciously  thinned 
out,  care  being  taken  not  to  cut  too  much  off  at  once,  as 
that  would  be  certain  to  less  or  more  check  the  vitality 
of  the  plants  by  gorging  the  rootlets  with  water,  if  too 
many  shoots  had  been  taken ;  hence,  after  pruning,  for 
a  few  days  water  sparingly. 

VARIETIES  TO   FORCE. 

The  varieties  grown  are  changing  every  season,  and  no 
list  we  can  give  to-day  is  likely  to  remain  as  the  best,  ten 
years  hence.  The  favorite  Tea  Roses  now  grown  for 
winter  are  Perle  des  Jardins  (yellow),  Sunset  (orange), 
Papa  Gontier  (carmine),  Niphetos  (white),  Catherine 
Mermet  (rosy  pink),  Souvenir  d'un  Ami  (delicate  peach 
color),  Cornelia  Cook  (white),  Marshal  Robert  (pale  yel- 
low), Madame  Cusin  (pink),  Bon  Silene  (carmine), 
Bride  (white),  William  Francis  Bennett  (crimson),  and 
American  Beauty  (light  crimson),  The  Puritan  (white)— 
these  three  last  named  are  "  Hybrid"  Teas,  but  they  ar& 
usually  grown  as  Teas. 

Of  climbing  Roses,  which  are  grown  on  the  rafters  of 
the  greenhouse,  Mareschal  Niel  (yellow),  Lamarque 
(white),  Gloire  de  Dijon  (salmon  rose),  Red  Grloire  de 
Dijon  (carmine),  and  the  new  Waltham  Climber  (deep 
crimson),  are  the  best.  This  last  has  not  yet  been  largely 
tested,  but  in  all  probability  it  will  supply  a  want  long 
felt.  It  is  a  double  Rose  of  fine  form  and  of  exquisite 
crimson  color,  equal  in  nearly  all  respects  to  our  finest 
Hybrid  Perpetuals — all  dark  Roses  that  we  have  hitherto 
had  in  climbers  being  shy  bloomers  with  inferior  flowers. 


1G4 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


ROSE  GROWING   IN   WINTER.  165 

HYBRID    PERPETUAL   ROSES. 

To  get  the  Hybrid  Perpetual  class  early  (say  during 
December  and  January),  requires  special  skill  and 
care,  but  it  well  repays  the  trouble,  as  this  class  of 
Roses  now  bring  an  average  of  $50  per  hundred  buds 
at  wholesale  from  the  15th  of  December  to  January 
15th.  The  method  found  to  be  necessary  is,  to  grow 
these  Roses  in  pots,  exactly  as  is  recommended  for 
the  evergreen  or  Tea  Roses,  except  that,  as  they  have  a 
tendency  to  grow  tall,  the  center  should  be  pinched 
out  of  the  leading  shoots  before  they  get  a  foot  high, 
so  that  from  five  to  six  shoots  run  up,  and  thus  not 
only  make  the  plant  bushy,  but,  what  is  of  more  import- 
ance, these  slimmer  shoots  are  less  pithy  and  ripen  off 
harder,  thus  insuring  with  more  certainty  a  greater 
production  of  buds.  The  varieties  of  Hybrid  Perpetuate 
best  adapted  for  early  freeing  are  :  Anna  de  Diesbach 
(rich  pink),  Countess  of  Oxford  (very  large,  soft,  rosy 
carmine),  Magna  Charta  (splendid  bright  pink),  La 
France  (rich  peach  color),  Mad.  Gabriel  Luizet  (light 
pink,  splendid),  Paul  Neron  (immense  size,  dark  pink), 
Baroness  Rothschild  (rich  shade  of  rose),  Rosy  Morn 
(cherry  rose,  large  and  full),  Merveille  de  Lyon  (pure 
white,  other  characteristics  same  as  Baroness  Rothschild), 
Anna  Alexis  (dark  pink),  General  Jacqueminot  (crim- 
son), Princess  C.  de  Rohan  (crimson,  almost  black), 
Dinsmore  (crimson,  scarlet),  Marquis  de  Castellaine 
(brilliant,  pinkish  carmine),  Pride  of  Waltham  (peach 
color). 

The  plants,  if  started  from  cuttings  any  time  from 
September  to  January,  the  season  in  which  we  prefer 
to  root  them,  will,  if  properly  grown,  by  August  1st  (or 
at  less  than  one  year  old),  have  filled  a  seven  or  eight- 
inch  pot  with  roots.  Now  is  the  critical  point.  The 
plants  must  be  ripened  off  and  rested,  if  a  crop  of  buds 


1G6  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

is  wanted  by  December,  January  or  February ;  so,  to  do 
this,  at  a  season  as  early  as  the  1st  of  August,  the  plants 
must  be  gradually  dried  off  sufficiently  to  make  them  drop 
their  leaves,  though  not  to  wilt  them  so  violently  as  to 
shrivel  the  shoots.  A  rest  of  two  months  is  necessary,  so 
that  the  plants,  which  we  commenced  to  dry  off  by  the  1st 
of  August,  may  be  started  slowly  by  the  1st  of  October,and 
Miose  begun  to  be  dried  off  by  the  1st  of  September  may 
be  started,  also  at  as  low  a  temperature  as  possible,  by  the 
1st  of  November.  On  first  starting,  give  the  dry  balls  a 
thorough  soaking  of  water.  If  placed  in  sunken  pits  or 
greenhouses,  where  there  is  no  fire  heat,  the  one  good 
watering  will  usually  be  enough  until  the  buds  swell, 
though  the  wood  should  be  kept  moist  by  syringing  twice 
or  thrice  each  day.  These,  like  the  Monthly  Hoses,  are 
best  ripened  off  by  placing  them  in  the  open  air  ;  though, 
if  continued  wet  weather  occur  when  they  are  thus 
placed  to  dry  and  ripen  their  wood,  the  pots  must  be 
placed  on  their  sides,  or  some  arrangement  contrived  to 
keep  them  from  getting  wet,  otherwise  the  rest  absolutely 
necessary  for  early  forcing  cannot  be  obtained.  In  our 
own  practice  we  cover  up  the  Roses  every  night  while 
drying  them  off,  either  with  sashes  or  sheeting,  as  one 
drenching  rain  during  the  period  of  drying  off  would 
defeat  the  whole  work.  The  best  kinds  for  early  work  are  : 
Magna  Charta,  Anna  de  Diesbach,  and  Gen.  Jacqueminot. 
When  the  forcing  of  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses  is  success- 
ful, it  is  very  profitable.  And  it  is  profitable  because  of  the 
unusual  care  and  skill  that  are  required  to  have  the  plants 
in  the  proper  condition.  We  may  here  state,  that  many 
failures  have  resulted  from  the  attempt  to  grow  the  Hybrid 
Tea  Roses  without  resting,  notably  the  Duchess  of  Edin- 
burgh, which  was  sent  out  from  England  some  five  or  six 
years  ago  as  a  "  Crimson  Tea."  The  misleading  name  of 
"  Tea,"  induced  hundreds  of  florists  to  attempt  its  growth 
under  the  same  conditions  as  the  Perle  des  Jardinsor  Bon 


ROSE  GROWING  IN  WINTER.  167 

Silene  class,  and  the  consequence  was  in  every  case,  almost 
complete  failure.  This  type  evidently  partakes  more  of 
the  Hybrid  Perpetual  than  of  the  Tea  class,  and  as  they 
are  hardy  and  deciduous,  refuse  to  blossom  in  midwinter, 
unless  given  the  rest  that  their  nature  demands.  So  far, 
however,  the  new  Roses,  William  Francis  Bennett  and 
American  Beauty,  seem  to  prove  an  exception  to  this 
rale,  as  they  do  well  under  the  same  treatment  as  the  old 
Teas.  The  past  season  we  have  found  American  Beauty 
to  do  excellently  well,  if  dried  off  like  the  regular  Hybrid, 
showing  it  to  do  well  under  both  conditions. 

HYBRID   PERPETUAL   ROSES   IN   SOLID   BEDS. 

Immense  quantities  of  Roses  of  this  class  are  now 
grown  in  solid  beds.  These  beds  require  no  special  prep- 
aration where  the  soil  is  naturally  good,  and  the  natural 
drainage  perfect,  but  where  this  is  not  the  case,  the  same 
compost  recommended  for  Tea  Roses  will  answer,  only 
using  a  greater  depth,  from  nine  to  twelve  inches,  over  a 
well-drained  bottom.  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses,  planted 
out  in  solid  beds,  cannot  be  had  so  early  as  when  grown 
in  pots,  as,  when  thus  grown,  they  cannot  well  be  given 
the  rest  necessary  for  early  forcing ;  as  a  rule,  in  this 
district,  they  are  rarely  in  market  before  February,  and 
from  then  they  are  brought  in.  in  succession  crops,  until 
the  Roses  from  out  doors  in  June  come  in.  The  distance 
at  which  they  are  planted  is  usually  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  inches  each  way. 

MILDEW. 

Roses,  when  grown  under  glass,  with  proper  attention 
to  temperature  and  moisture,  are  not  usually  attacked, by 
Mildew  ;  but  as  a  preventive  it  is  well  to  paint  the  hot- 
water  pipes  once  every  two  or  three  weeks  with  a  mixture 
of  sulphur  and  lime  or  sulphur  and  guano,  made  of  the 
consistency  of  whitewash  (the  guano  or  lime  is  merely  to 


168  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

make  the  sulphur  stick  better  to  the  pipes).  We  also 
use  this  mixture  of  sulphur  on  our  steam  pipes,  but  only 
on  about  one-sixth  of  the  diameter  ;  if  the  whole  pipe 
was  covered  as  in  the  hot  water  pipe,  the  fumes  would 
hurt  the  plants.  The  fumes  of  sulphur,  as  diffused  by 
the  heated  pipes,  is  a  never-failing  means  of  destroying 
the  germs  of  Mildew  or  any  other  fungoid  growth,  and 
also  holds  in  check,  to  some  extent,  the  Red-spider,  an 
insect  often  so  troublesome  to  the  Rose.  In  the  summer, 
or  at  such  seasons  of  the  year  when  no  fire  is  used,  it  is 
well  to  dust  the  foliage  lightly  with  sulphur  once  a  week 
as  a  preventive  of  Mildew. 

THE   ROSE-BUG   OF   THE   GREENHOUSE. 

For  the  Rose-bug  (Aramigus  Fuller ii),  so  detrimental  to 
success  in  Rose  growing  under  glass,  there  seems  no  sure 
remedy  except  the  slow  one  of  catching  and  killing  the 
insect  as  soon  as  it  is  seen  on  the  leaves.  It  is  not  easily 
observed,  as  it  gets  under  the  leaves  and  close  to  the 
shoots  of  the  plants.  Its  presence  is  known  by  the  bitten 
leaves  showing  where  it  is  feeding.  It  will  be  understood 
that  it  is  not  the  Rose-bug  in  its  perfect  state  that  does  the 
injury.  The  bug  deposits  its  eggs  close  to  the  root  of  the 
plant ;  these  quickly  hatch  into  larvae  or  maggots,  which 
at  once  begin  to  feed  on  the  roots  of  the  Rose,  destroying 
it  completely.  Many  years  ago  we  adopted  the  plan  of 
paying  our  boys  one  cent  apiece  for  the  bugs  which  they 
caught  at  their  dinner-hour,  and  by  this  method  have 
completely  kept  them  under,  so  that  to  see  one  now  is  a 
rarity. 

The  only  safety,  when  the  Rose-bug  is  known  to  be 
present  in  sufficient  numbers  to  injure,  is  to  throw  out 
the  plants  and  start  with  young  ones.  I  know,  of  course, 
that  there  are  many  rose  houses  that  are  even  nine  to 
ten  years  old,  that  never  fail  to  produce  abundant  crops, 
particularly  such  as  Mareschal  Niel  and  other  climbers ; 


ROSE   GROWING   IK   WINTER. 


169 


but  in  such  cases  it  seems  to  be  that  the  Roses  planted 
either  had  escaped  the  visitation  of  the  Rose-bug  alto- 
gether, or  had  got  so  deeply  and  strongly  rooted  before 
being  attacked,  that  the  grub  could  not  injure  the  plants. 
Professor  C.  V.  Riley,  the  Government  Entomologist, 
who  has  given  the  habits  of  this  insect  careful  study, 
says  :  "This  habit  of  simulating  death  upon  disturbance 
is  common  to  many  insects  of  this  family.  They  feed 


Fig.  37. — ABAMIGUS  FULLERI. 

a,  larvae ;  &,  pupa :  c,  beetle,  side  view  ;  d,  same,  dorsal  view,  the  out- 
line between  showing  natural  size  ;  e,  eggs,  enlarged  and  natural  size ; 
/,  left  maxilla  of  larva,  with  palpus  ;  g,  under  side  of  head ;  h,  upper 
side  of  same,  enlarged  (after  Riley). 

upon  the  leaves,  but  do  more  injury  by  severing  them 
than  by  the  amount  of  foliage  consumed.  The  eggs  are 
laid  in  flattened  batches,  consisting  of  several  contiguous 
rows,  and  each  batch  containing  from  ten  to  sixty.  The 
individual  egg  is  smooth,  yellow, ovoid,  and  about  one  mm. 
in  length.  The  female  shows  a  confirmed  habit  of  secret- 
ing her  eggs,  which  are  thrust  between  the  loose  bark  and 
the  stem,  especially  at  the  base  just  above  the  ground."  * 

*  This  is  a  different  insect  from  the  Rose-bug,  so  destructive  to  Rosea 
and  other  plants  in  tbc  open  grounds,  which  is  Macrodaftylux  sufapinoms. 


170  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

The  larva  of  the  May  beetle,  a  large  white  grub,  with 
a  dark-brown  head,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
larva  of  the  Rose-bug.  This,  too,  is  often  destructive  to 
Roses,  but  usually  only  on  newly-planted  beds.  It  acts 
by  cutting  the  roots  clean  off,  killing  the  plant  outright. 
However,  it  is  rarely  so  destructive  as  the  Rose-bug,  and 
not  so  much  to  be  feared,  as  it  is  not  propagated  inside 
the  house,  the  grubs  being  simply  carried  in  with  the  soil. 
Care  should  therefore  be  taken  to  avoid  all  soil  in  which 
these  large  grubs  are  seen. 

SHADING  THE   HOUSE. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  propriety 
of  shading  rose  houses  during  the  hot  summer  months. 
I  believe  that  a  slight  shading  is  beneficial  from  May 
to  September,  and  for  that  purpose  use  naphtha,  mixed 
with  a  little  white  lead,  just  enough  to  give  it  the  appear- 
ance of  thin  milk.  This  is  thrown  on  the  outside  of  the 
glass  with  a  syringe.  It  costs  only  about  twenty -five 
cents  for  every  thousand  square  feet.  This  shading  is 
the  best  I  have  ever  used.  It  is  just  enough  to  take  the 
glare  of  the  sunlight  off,  without  much  lessening  the 
light  ;  and  though  it  will  hold  on  tenaciously  during  the 
summer,  it  is  easily  rubbed  off  in  the  fall  after  the  first 
frost,  when  it  has  been  lightly  put  on,  but  if  thickly  put 
on  it  is  quite  troublesome  to  get  off.  Another  method 
is,  to  use  common  whitening  mixed  with  water,  put  on 
with  a  brush  on  the  glass  inside  the  house.  This  plan 
has  the  advantage  of  the  shading  being  much  easier 
washed  off  than  the  other,  although  it  is  a  little  slower 
to  put  on.  Of  course  it  could  be  syringed  on  quickly, 
which  would,  however,  spatter  the  foliage,  making  it 
look  unsightly  for  a  few  days,  but  doing  no  injury. 

GARDEN   CULTURE   OF   THE   ROSE. 

But  little  need  be  said  on  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
all  that  is  wanted  being  a  deep,  rich  soil,  enriched  with 


ROSE  GROWING  IK  WINTER.  171 

cow  manure  or  bone  dust,  in  an  unshaded  position.  For 
the  dry  climate  of  the  United  States,  a  class  of  Roses 
should  be  grown  very  different  from  those  grown  in  Eng- 
land. There  the  "Remontants,"  or  "Hybrid  Perpet- 
uals,"  in  the  humid  atmosphere  that  prevails,  with  few 
exceptions,  flower  nearly  as  freely  as  the  "Monthly" 
Roses  do  here  ;  but  with  us,  experience  has  shown  that, 
after  the  first  bloom  in  June,  no  full  crop  of  flowers  is 
again  obtained,  unless  with  the  comparatively  new  class 
known  as  the  Hybrid  Teas,  of  which  La  France  (rose 
color),  Duchess  of  Edinburgh  (crimson),  The  Puritan 
(white),  American  Beauty  (carmine),  and  the  new  variety 
introduced  in  1887  known  as  Dinsmore  (scarlet  crimson), 
are  types  ;  so  that,  when  a  continued  bloom  of  Roses  of 
all  colors  is  desired  during  the  entire  summer  and  fall 
months,  the  class  known  as  monthly  (embracing  Tea, 
Bourbon,  Bengal,  Noisette,  and  Hybrid  Tea),  are  the 
best.  True,  these  varieties,  except  the  Hybrid  Teas, 
are  not  usually  hardy,  unless  in  that  portion  of  the 
country  where  the  thermometer  never  gets  twenty  degrees 
below  the  freezing  point ;  but  they  can  be  saved  through 
the  winter  in  almost  any  section,  if  pegged  down  and 
covered  up  with  five  or  six  inches  of  leaves  or  rough 
litter.  This  covering,  however,  should  not  be  done  until 
quite  hard  frost  comes  ;  in  the  locality  of  New  York, 
about  the  first  week  in  December.  If  done  sooner,  there 
is  danger,  if  the  season  is  mild  (as  it  usually  is  here  until 
December  1st),  that  the  shoots  may  be  smothered  and 
rotted  by  a  too  early  covering.  This  same  rule  we  adopt 
in  covering  Grape-vines,  Clematis,  Raspberries,  Straw- 
berries, or,  in  fact,  any  other  plant  or  shrub  that  is 
believed  to  be  benefited  by  winter  protection,  as  I  have 
never  yet  seen  injury  done  to  half-hardy  plants  by  frost 
previous  to  that  date.  In  this  matter  of  covering,  the 
inexperienced  in  gardening  often  errs  ;  first,  from  his 
anxiety  to  protect  his  plants  before  there  is  danger  in 


172  PRACllCAL  FLORICULTURE. 

the  fall  ;  and  next,  in  his  enthusiasm  in  the  spring,  he 
is  deceived  by  some  warm  day  in  March  to  uncover  plants 
which  cannot  be  safely  exposed  until  April. 

ROSEBUDS  IN    SUMMER. 

A  good  plan  to  obtain  Rosebuds  during  the  summer 
months  is  as  follows  :  In  August  strong  plants  are  set 
out  in  cold  frames  (such  as  are  used  for  keeping  Cabbages, 
Pansies,  or  other  half-hardy  plants),  at  a  distance  of  one 
foot  each  way.  On  the  approach  of  cold  weather  in 
November  they  are  mulched  with  two  or  three  inches  of 
dry  leaves,  and  by  the  time  the  thermometer  begins  to 
fall  to  ten  or  fifteen  degrees  below  the  freezing  point,  the 
sashes  are  put  on,  care  being  taken  to  give  ventilation,  so 
as  to  keep  them  cool.  They  thus  become  hardened 
enough  to  go  safely  through  the  winter,  when  covered 
with  straw  mats,  so  that  they  will  be  protectel  from 
severe  freezing.  In  sections  of  the  country  where  the 
thermometer  does  not  fall  lower  than  ten  above  zero, 
there  would  be  no  need  of  the  strar  mats.  By  the 
middle  of  April,  the  sashes  may  be  left  entirely  off,  pro- 
vided care  has  been  taken  to  keep  them  cool  throughout 
the  winter.  Roses  being  thus  "  rested  "  (which  is  the 
great  necessity  for  the  best  results  in  Rose  culture),  an 
abundant  crop  of  buds  may  be  expected  from  June  to 
October,  provided  that  proper  attention  has  been  given 
to  watering  and  mulching  with  well-rotted  stable  manure, 
or  moss  and  bone  dust,  in  summer.  This  mulching 
should  take  the  place  of  the  dry  leaves  (which  were 
placed  on  in  the  fall),  about  the  latter  end  of  May  or  first 
of  June. 

The  Roses  to  be  used  for  summer  buds  must  be  all  full, 
double  flowers,  else  they  will  quickly  fall  to  pieces  in  hot 
weather.  Such  kinds  as  Safrano,  Bon  Silene,  Bennett, 
and  Douglas,  are  of  no  use  for  this  purpose.  The  kinds 
best  suited  are  as  follows  :  Perle  des  Jardins  (yellow), 


HOSE  GROWING  IN  WINTER.  173 

Cornelia  Cook  (white),  La  France  (light  rose),  Coquette 
des  Alpes  (pure  white),  Madame  Welch  (blush),  Duchess 
of  Edinburgh  (crimson),  Malmaison  (deep  blush),  Cath- 
erine Mermet  (rosy  pink),  Letty  Coles  (carmine  and 
blush),  Devoniensis  (deep  blush),  Sunset  (the  new  orange 
saffron  variety),  Dinsmore  (scarlet  crimson),  The  Puritan 
(white),  American  Beauty  (deep  crimson),  and  Bride 
(pure  white),  all  of  which,  under  proper  conditions,  will 
give  perfect  flowers  in  the  hottest  weather. 

THE   DISEASES   AND   INSECT   PESTS   AFFECTING   ROSES 

Have  been  in  part  referred  to  in  the  Cultural  Direc- 
tions. Mildew,  the  most  common,  quickly  succumbs  to 
sulphur,  if  applied  as  directed  in  chapter  on  Insects  and 
Diseases  Affecting  Plants.  The  aphis,  or  Green-fly, 
should  never  appear,  if  preventive  measures  have  been 
taken  with  tobacco,  as  directed  in  the  same  Chapter. 

But  there  are  other  pests  encountered  in  Rose  growing 
not  so  easily  got  rid  of.  The  Red-spider,  the  insect  so 
small  as  hardly  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  that  works 
on  the  under  side  of  the  leaves,  giving  them  a  dry  and 
reddish  appearance,  luxuriates  in  a  dry,  hot  atmosphere, 
but  persistent  forcible  syringing  in  the  forenoon,  when 
the  sun  is  shining,  will  generally  keep  it  down ;  care 
should  be  taken,  however,  to  thin  out  all  weak,  useless 
wood,  so  that  the  syringing  can  take  effect  on  the  leaves 
affected  by  the  spider. 

For  the  remedy  for  the  Rose-bug,  see  Chapter  on 
Insects,  etc. 

The  Black  Spot,  so  called  for  want  of  a  better  name, 
is  a  disease  most  injurious  in  its  effects  on  roses,  particu- 
larly the  Hybrid  Perpetual  and  Hybrid  Tea  classes. 
There  is  quite  a  difference  of  opinion  about  this  disease 
of  the  Rose,  some  contending  that  it  is  altogether  atmos- 
pheric, others  that  it  is  solely  caused  by  the  destruction  of 
the  working  roots.  Certain  it  is,  that  it  is  first  caused 


174  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

by  a  sudden  lowering  of  temperature,  accompanied  by  a 
damp  atmosphere,  so  that  the  injury  to  roots  and  leaves 
may  be  simultaneous  in  this  case.  But  we  also  know  that 
it  occurs  in  hot  and  dry  weather,  where  there  has  been  no 
sudden  change  of  temperature,  which  would  indicate,  in 
this  case,  that  it  was  caused  solely  by  the  injury  to  the 
tender  roots  by  long  continued  drouth.  In  any  case, 
whatever  be  the  cause,  it  is  the  only  safe  plan  to  avoid,  as 
far  as  possible,  extremes  of  temperature  and  moisture. 
In  the  summer  of  1886  we  had  about  a  thousand  very 
tine  plants  of  American  Beauty  Kose  (one  of  the  most 
liable  to  be  attacked  with  Black  Spot),  growing  in  the 
open  air  in  eight-inch  pots — splendid  plants,  without 
speck  or  blemish.  About  the  middle  of  July,  half  of 
the  plants  were  taken  into  the  rose  house,  where  they 
kept  in  splendid  condition  all  fall  and  winter,  while  the 
other  half  was  left  outside  ;  both  lots  looked  equally 
well  until  near  the  end  of  August,  when  the  lot  left  out- 
side began  to  show  indications  of  the  Black  Spot,  and 
although  they  were  removed  under  cover  of  the  green- 
house at  once,  they  never  recovered,  and  were  almost  a 
total  loss.  A  lot  of  the  Bennett  Roses  left  out  at  the 
same  time  were  also  so  affected  by  the  Spot  as  to  destroy 
them.  The  conclusion  arrived  at  was  that  the  lot  left 
out  in  the  open  air  had  undergone  some  quick  lowering 
of  temperature  sufficient  to  chill  the  leaves  and  roots  of 
the  plants.  The  remedy,  then,  is  to  get  them  under 
cover,  where  they  can  be  controlled,  in  time  to  prevent 
such  contingencies. 

There  is  still  another  disease,  which,  however,  is  less 
common  than  the  Black  Spot  or  Mildew,  that  affects  Roses 
when  grown  under  glass  ;  it  is  called  Club  Root,  Knot 
Root,  or  Wart  Root.  The  indications  that  this  trouble  is 
at  the  roots  are  given  by  the  young  shoots  of  the  Roses 
getting  light  in  color,  and  occasionally,  if  the  roots  are 
badly  affected,  the  leaves  assume  an  appearance  of  being 


BULBS  FOE  WINTER  FLOWERS.         175 

burned  or  rusted,  together  with  an  unusual  tendency  in 
the  plant  to  drop  its  leaves.  There  is,  I  think,  no 
remedy  for  this  root  trouble.  It  is,  I  think,  a  conse- 
quence rather  than  a  cause  of  disease — a  consequence  of 
lessened  vitality  in  the  plant,  brought  about  by  over 
propagation,  or  other  debilitating  causes. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 
BULBS  FOR  WINTER  FLOWERS. 

Next  in  importance  to  Roses,  come  the  various  kinds 
of  bulbs  that  are  now  forced  during  the  winter  and  spring 
months  for  early  flowers.  Immense  quantities  are  im- 
ported annually  for  this  purpose,  quite  a  number  of  florists 
about  New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia,  use  upwards 
of  a  hundred  thousand  bulbs  annually,  two  or  three  in 
New  York  growing  now  upwards  of  half  a  million  each 
year.  With  few  exceptions,  all  these  bulbs  are  imported  ; 
they  are  of  little  use  after  being  forced,  and  we  find  by 
experience,  that  (with  the  exception  of  Lilies),  it  is  more 
profitable  to  import  each  year  than  to  attempt  to  grow 
bulbs,  that  have  been  used  for  forcing,  into  good  con- 
dition again. 

The  bulbs  used  for  forcing  are :  Roman  Hyacinths, 
Paper  White  Narcissus,  Early  Roman  Narcissus,  Single 
Tulips,  Lily  of  the  Valley,  Lilies  and  Daffodils,  Freesia 
(Freesia  refracta  alba),  Tuberoses  and  Callas.  A  few 
illustrations  are  given  of  the  flowers  of  the  different  bulbs, 
to  give  our  readers  who  are  not  familiar  with  them, 
some  idea  what  they  are. 

Roman  Hyacinths,  Narcissus,  Daffodils  and  Tulips, 
are  usually  received  by  the  middle  or  end  of  August,  and 
they  should  at  once  be  placed  in  the  pots  or  boxes  in  which 


176 


PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 


they  are  to  be  grown  ;  if  to  be  grown  in  pots,  six 
inches  is  a  convenient  size,  in  which  place  four  to  five, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  bulb.  If  to  be  grown  in 
boxes,  use  such  as  are  about  three  inches  deep,  the 
ordinary  soap  box  is  a  convenient  size.  Use  any  good 
rich  soil,  such  as  is  used  for  general  potting,  press  down 


Fig.  38. — NABCiSSUS,    TRUMPET   MAJOB. 

the  bulbs  (two  or  three  inches  apart)  into  the  soil,  so  as 
to  leave  about  one-fourth  pf  their  .depth  uncovered,  or 
deep  enough  to  steady  them  nicely  in  the  soil,  as  of 
course  the  roots  are  only  emitted  from  the  bottom  of  the 
bulb.  Now  prepare  a  nice  level  spot  in  the  open  ground, 
taking  care  that  you  choose  it  where  the  water  will  pass 
freely  from,  then  place  the  potted  or  boxed  bulbs  on  this 
close  together  in  beds  four  or  five  feet  wide  (for  conven- 
ience), then  cover  them  up  at  once  with  four  or  five  inches 


BULBS   FOR   WINTER   FLOWERS.  177 

of  rough  manure,  spent  hops,  well  rotted  leaves,  or  any- 
thing that  will  act  best  as  a  non-conductor,  the  object 
being  to  prevent  them  from  drying  up  by  the  sun,  and 
at  the  same  time  as  cool  as  possible.  As  the  season 
advances,  this  covering  will  not  be  enough  to  keep  out  the 
frost,  so  cover  up  further  with  manure  or  leaves,  so  as  to 


Fig.  39.— POLYANTHUS  NARCISSUS — PAPER  WHITE. 

prevent  them  from  freezing  hard.  On  first  placing  the 
boxes  or  pots  containing  the  bulbs  give  them  a  good  water- 
ing, which  will  beall  they  will  require,  as  the  covering  will 
keep  them  sufficiently  moist  afterwards.  The  bulbs  put 
in  by  September  1st  will,  most  of  them,  be  well  rooted 
by  October  15th,  at  which  time,  some  of  the  earliest, 
as  Paper  White  and  Early  Roman  Narcissus,  may 


178  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

be  placed  in  the  forcing  house,  but  they  must  be  for- 
warded  slowly;  the  temperature  at  night  should  not 
exceed  sixty  degrees;  this  will  bring  in  the  crop  of 
Narcissus  early  in  December. 

Roman  Hyacinths  had  better  not  be  started  until  a 
month  later,  as  it  is  found,  if  we  attempt  to  flower 
them  too  early,  the  crop  is  always  inferior.  In  most 
places  the  demand  for  cut  flowers  continues  through  the 


Fig.  40. --DOUBLE  NARCISSUS  INCOMPARABLE. 

winter  and  into  spring,  hence  the  bulbs  arc  brought  in 
from  out-doors  and  forced  as  wanted.  The  temperature 
ut  night  should  range  from  sixty  to  sixty-five. 

It  is  imperative  for  the  success  of  either  Hyacinths, 
Tulips,  or  Narcissus,  that  they  be  well  rooted  in  the 
boxes  or  pots  before  being  brought  into  heat,  if  they  are 
insufficiently  rooted,  failure  will  result ;  to  be  in  proper 
condition  to  force,  the  pots  or  boxes  should  be  matted 
around  with  the  roots. 


BULBS   FOR    WINTER   FLOWERING.  179 

The  best  single  varieties  of  Narcissus  for  forcing  are  : 
Paper  White,  Trumpet  Major,  Minor  and  N.  poeticus. 
Of  double  :  Incomparable,  Roman,  Von  Sion  (all  yel- 
low). Of  double  whites,  Alba  Plena  Odorata  is  the  best. 

The  single  kinds  of  Tulips,  mostly,  are  used  for  forcing. 
The  following  varieties  may  be  recommended  :  Due  Van 
Thol  (red  and  yellow,  scarlet,  white,  yellow,  rose,  pur- 
ple, and  crimson),  which  are  about  all  the  colors  needed 
for  the  earliest  forcing — that  is  in  December.  Below  is 
a  good  selection  for  January  forcing,  after  which  time 
nearly  all  Holland  Tulips  may  be  forced  with  success  : — 
For  scarlet  or  red  :  Rembrandt,  Artus,  Vermillion  Bril- 
liant, Roi  Oramoise,  and  Fire-flame.  For  white  :  Potte- 
bakker,  Princess  Mary  Ann,  Queen  Victoria,  Snow- 
ball, White  Swan,  and  Grand-master  of  Malta.  For 
yellow  :  Canary-bird,  Yellow  Prince,  Duke  of  Orange, 
Duchess  of  Austria  and  Lucretia.  For  rose  or  pink : 
Cottage  Maid,  Rosamundi,  Rose  Adeline,  Proserpine, 
Bride  of  Haarlem  and  Everwyn.  For  red  and  yellow 
striped  :  Duchess  de  Parma,  Kaiserkroon,  Queen  Emma, 
Samson,  Ma  plus  Aimable. 

Daffodils  require  the  same  treatment  as  the  above 
named  Tulips,  and  should  not  be  put  in  to  force  before 
the  middle  of  January.  Tbose  kinds  named  below  are 
the  best : — Double  :  Incomparabilis  (yellow  and  orange), 
Orange  Phronix  (white  and  orange),  Silver  Phoenix 
(white,  very  double),  Von  Sion  (yellow).  Single  : 
Trumpet  Major  (fine  yellow),  Trumpet  Minor  (yellow 
trumpet  and  white  perianth),  Princeps  (creamy  yellow, 
and  large  trumpet),  Bulbocodium  (yellow),  Bulbocodium 
(white),  Single  Incomparable  (yellow  and  white). 

Of  Roman  Hyacinths  there  are  four  kinds  : — The 
Early  White  is  that  in  general  use,  and  the  best.  Next 
the  Rose,  or  Red-skinned  ;  the  color  is  a  rich  blush, 
and  is  now  getting  popular  among  florists.  The  Blue 
Roman  is  not  desirable,  unless  as  a  variety ;  and  the 


180 


PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 


Nantes  White  Spring  Hyacinth,  classed  as  a  Roman,, 
and  used  for  late  work,  completes  the  list  of  varieties. 

Lily-of-the- Valley  roots  are  not  received  until  much  later 
than  the  Holland  bulbs,  usually  about  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber. Tfiey  are  generally  imported  in  separate  pips,  in 
bunches  of  twenty-five  or  fifty.  When  received  the  bunches 
should  be  placed  close  together  in  boxes,  with  a  little  fine 
soil  sifted  over  them,  placed  like 
the  bulbs,  in  the  open  air,  and 
covered  up  in  the  same  manner. 
Unlike  Hyacinths,  or  Tulips,  Lily- 
of-the-Valley  will  make  no  roots 
outside.  The  object  of  placing 
them  outside,  is  to  rest  them  before 
forcing  into  flower,  and  the  longer 
this  rest,  and  the  nearer  it  comes 
to  its  natural  time  of  flowering,  the 
better  is  the  crop.  It  is  found  that 
if  attempted  to  be  had  as  early  as 
Christmas  the  results  are  often 
hardly  half  a  crop.  If  wanted  for 
Christmas,  they  should  be  placed 
in  heat  about  December  1st,  as  it 
takes,  on  an  average,  at  that  sea- 
son, about  three  weeks  to  get 
them  into  flower.  In  placing  the  Lily-of-the- Valley  to 
force,  the  best  place  is  a  greenhouse  facing  north  ;  or  if 
that  is  not  at  hand,  the  ordinary  greenhouse  must  be 
shaded  in  the  part  they  are  placed.  They  should  be 
planted  in  benches  or  boxes  of  sand,  deep  enough  to  let  the 
pips  be  one  inch  or  so  above  the  sand  ;  these  are  placed 
almost  touching.  Planting  is  best  done  by  cutting  trenches 
in  the  sand,  deep  enough  to  receive  the  roots,  making  the 
lines  only  an  inch  or  so  apart.  Water  the  sand  freely 
twice  a  day  with  tepid  water,  and  keep  the  temperature 
of  the  sand  at  not  less  than  ninety  degrees  at  night, 


Fig.  41.— HYACINTH 
WHITE  ROMAN. 


BULBS  FOR  WINTER  FLOWERING. 


181 


To  get  this  high  "bottom  heat"  in  the  sand  of  the 
bench,  it  will  require,  if  heated  by  hot  water,  three 
four-inch  pipes  under  a  bench  three  or  four  feet  wide, 
"  boxed  in "  so  as  to  confine  the  heat ;  if  by  steam,  an 


Fig.  42. — LILT  OF  THE   VALLEY. 

equivalent  of  steam  pipes — say,  three  one  and   a  half- 
inch  pipes. 

When  the  flowers  begin  to  develop,  withhold  water 
overhead,  as  otherwise  it  will  injure  the  flowers.  Like 
all  other  plants  used  for  winter  forcing,  Lily-of-the- 
Valley  should  be  brought  into  the  house  in  lots  for  succes- 
sion. It  requires,  when  taken  from  the  open  ground  to 
the  forcing  house  from  two  to  three  weeks  for  a  full 


182  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

development  of  the  flowers,  but  by  first  bringing  them 
into  a  cool  shed  or  cellar,  and  sprinkling  them  enough 
to  keep  them  moist,  and  keeping  in  this  position  for  a 
week,  then  placing  them  in  heat,  a  saving  of  nearly  half 
the  time  in  bringing  them  into  bloom  will  be  made. 
This  plan  is  but  little  known  ;  one  of  our  best  growers 
having  found  it  out  by  accident  a  few  years  ago.  He 
now  practices  it  entirely,  with  the  best  results — saving 
five  or  six  days  in  time  in  getting  forward  each  batch. 
Lily-of-the- Valley  flowers  are  now  obtained  every  month 
in  the  year,  by  placing  the  roots,  when  they  arrive,  in 
"cold-storage"  warehouses.  Where  the  temperature  is 
being  kept  just  above  the  freezing  point,  the  roots  can  be 
kept  dormant  for  twelve  months,  if  desired.  In  this  dor- 
mant condition  they  are  taken  out  of  the  cold  storage, 
placed  in  the  necessary  heat,  and  forced  into  flower  at 
pleasure.  Many  other  kinds  of  Bulbs  could  be  retarded 
in  this  way,  only  that  in  all  other  cases  except  the  Lily- 
of-the- Valley,  Bulbs  so  retarded  would  require  to  be 
placed  outside  to  form  young  roots,  in  the  manner 
already  described,  before  they  could  be  forced  into  flower, 
but  in  the  case  of  the  Lily-of-the- Valley  roots,  this  is  not 
necessary. 

Lilium  Harrisi,  or  Bermuda  Easter  Lily,  was  intro- 
duced into  general  cultivation  about  1878  ;  there  is  some 
question  whether  it  is  a  "sport"  from  the  old  Lilium 
longiflorum  or  Trumpet  Lily,  or  whether  long  years  of 
cultivation  in  the  congenial  climate  of  Bermuda  has  so 
changed  the  nature  of  the  plant  as  to  give  it  the  wonder- 
ful free  flowering  properties  it  possesses.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  the  variety  is  distinct  from  L.  longiflorum,  for 
it  is  not  only  much  more  prolific  in  flowering,  but  the 
flowers  are  wider  and  the  whole  plant  more  robust,  a  re- 
sult not  to  be  expected  from  any  temporary  cultivation  ir. 
a  climate,  no  matter  how  congenial.  The  rules  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  Bermuda  Easter  Lily  are  almost  iden- 


BULBS  FOR  WINTER  FLOWERING. 


183 


43. — BERMUDA   EASTER   LILT. 


184  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

tical  with  those  in  use  for  Roman  Hyacinths  and  Tulips 
already  described,  except  that,  after  the  boxes  or  pots  are 
filled  with  roots,  the  time  for  the  development  of  the 
flower  is  longer.  The  dry  bulbs,  however,  usually  can  be 
procured  as  early  as  first  week  in  August,  and  if  potted 
or  boxed  up  at  that  time  and  placed  outside,  will  form 
roots,  sufficient  to  allow  them  to  be  brought  into  the 


Fig.  44.— FREESIA  REFRACTA  ALBA. 

greenhouse  by  the  1st  of  October,  and  if  kept  in  a  tem- 
perature of  sixty  degrees  at  night,  with  ten  or  fifteen 
degrees  higher  during  the  daytime,  will  give  a  crop  of 
flowers  by  Christmas ;  like  all  other  bulbs,  succession 
crops  should  be  brought  in  to  force.  The  Bermuda  Easter 
Lily  is  largely  used  for  decoration  at  Easter,  and  for  that 
season,  beginning  to  force  in  January  will  be  soon  enough. 
Lihum  longiflorum  and  Lilium  candidum  require  ex- 


BULBS  FOR   WINTER  FLOWERING.  185 

actly  the  same  treatment,  except  that  neither  of  these 
can  be  made  to  flower  so  early  as  the  Bermuda  Lily. 

Freesia  refracta  alba  is  a  more  tender  bulb  and  cannot 
be  submitted  to  the  open  air  treatment  to  form  roots  like 
the  hardier  bulbs.  As  the  bulbs  are  small,  they  can  be 
placed  in  shallow  boxes  (three  inches  deep),  two  or  three 
inches  apart,  or  in  pots,  using  any  good  mellow  soil. 
Place  them  in  a  cool  greenhouse  ;  under  the  benches  will 
do  until  they  start  to  grow  ;  then  place  them  in  the  light 
and  treat  exactly  as  advised  for  Hyacinths,  etc.  The 
flowers  are  pure  white,  and  produced  in  great  abundance. 

Calla  (Richardia  Ethiopica),  or  Lily  of  the  Nile,  is 
not  usually  grown  or  classed  as  a  winter  flowering  bulb, 
but  we  have  found  that  by  using  the  dry,  well-ripened 
roots,  as  grown  in  California,  it  is  one  of  the  most  profit- 
able plants  to  force.  These  dry,  well-ripened  bulbs  pro- 
duce an  abundance  of  fine  flowers  and  make  but  very  few 
leaves,  consequently  by  using  such  bulbs  a  great  many 
more  flowers  can  be  had  on  the  same  space  than  when  the 
foliage  is  kept  on  the  plants  as  is  usually  done. 

TUBEROSES. 

Forcing  the  Tuberose,  so  as  to  have  the  flowers  from 
January  to  March,  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  operation, 
and  is  now  but  little  attempted  here,  as  present  prices 
will  not  justify  it.  The  plant  being  of  tropical  origin, 
to  have  it  at  all  times  in  a  growing  state  requires  a  high 
temperature — not  less  than  an  average  of  eighty  degrees  ; 
consequently,  few  ordinarily-heated  greenhouses  or  pri- 
vate sitting-rooms  are  at  a  temperature  high  enough  to 
insure  the  continued  and  uninterrupted  growth  necessary 
to  the  production  of  flowers  in  the  dark  winter  months. 
It  is,  however,  comparatively  easy  to  force  so  as  to  pro- 
duce flowers  during  April.  May,  ard  June,  and  again, 
by  retarding  the  bulbs,  during  November  and  December. 


186  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

By  the  first  method,  the  bulbs  are,  about  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, placed  closely  together  in  boxes  three  inches  deep, 
having  two  inches  or  so  of  damp  moss  in  the  bottom. 
These  boxes  are  placed  in  some  warm  spot,  where  the 
temperature  will  average  seventy-five  degrees.  If  for 
greenhouse  culture,  the  best  place  is  under  the  benches 
on  the  hot-water  pipes.  In  about  four  or  five  weeks  the 
Tuberoses  will  have  rooted  all  through  the  moss,  and 
they  should  then  be  potted  in  four  or  five-inch  pots,  or 
planted  in  a  bench  of  soil  four  or  five  inches  deep,  and 
kept  in  a  temperature  at  no  time  less  than  seventy-five 
degrees,  and  flowers  will  be  had  in  abundance  in  April. 
For  succession  crops,  place  the  dry  bulbs  in  moss,  at 
intervals  of  three  or  four  weeks.  The  last  crops  will 
usually  be  the  best,  as  by  May  and  June  the  natural  tem- 
perature will  have  increased,  and  less  artificial  heat  will 
be  required. 

If  flowers  are  wanted  during  November  and  December, 
the  retarding  process  alluded  to  is  resorted  to.  This  is 
done  by  selecting  such  bulbs  as  are  wanted  (care  being 
taken  to  use  only  such  as  are  sound  and  firm),  and  plac- 
ing them  in  some  cool,  dry  place  until  the  middle  of 
August,  when  the  first  crop  may  be  planted,  either  in 
pots  or  in  a  bench  of  the  greenhouse,  as  described  above 
for  the  spring  crop.  This  planting  will  produce  a  crop 
by  November.  For  the  succession  crop  of  December, 
planting  must  be  delayed  until  the  middle  of  September, 
this  being  as  late  as  the  bulbs  can  be  kept  sound  in  the 
usual  way  ;  but  they  may  be  retarded  in  refrigerators  or 
in  the  cities  in  cold-storage  vaults,  as  is  done  with 
Lily  of  the  Valley,  and  in  that  way  may  be  had  all 
through  the  winter  months,  provided  a  high  enough 
temperature,  with  plenty  of  light,  can  be  given.  The 
same  high  temperature  is  indispensable  as  in  the  spring 
crop,  namely,  an  average  of  seventy-five  degrees.  The 
variety  best  for  forcing  is  the  Pearl,  which  grows  only 


BULBS  FOR  WINTER  FLOWERING.  187 

about  half  the  height,  and  has  flowers  nearly  twice 
the  diameter  of  the  old  sort ;  but  for  planting  in  the 
open  ground  in  the  ordinary  way,  when  the  flowers  are 
only  wanted  for  fall,  the  common  double  variety  is  the 
best ;  as,  being  less  double,  the  flowers  open  better  under 
the  often  unfavorably  dry  atmosphere  that  we  have  in  Oc- 
tober. The  Pearl  Tuberose  originated  in  this  country  in 


Fig.  45. — TUBEKOSE  BULB  WITH   SETS. 

1865,  in  the  grounds  of  John  Henderson,  Mushing,  L.  I. 
I  purchased  the  entire  stock  of  Mr.  Henderson  in  1866, 
paying  him  $500  for  a  barrel  of  the  roots.  I  sold  it  for 
the  first  time  in  1867.  It  is  now  the  favorite  variety  for 
forcing,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe. 


183 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


Tuberoses  are  often  forwarded,  so  as  to  be  bad  in 
flower  in  the  earlier  fall  months,  in  sections  of  the  coun- 
try where  the  season  is  too  short.  Tins  is  done  exactly 
in  the  way  recommended  for  the  spring  forcing,  by  start- 
ing the  bulbs  in  damp  moss  ;  but  for  this  purpose  the 


Fiff.  46.— SOTTND  BUtB.  Fig.  47.— BUT,B  DECAYED  AT  CKNTEK. 

dry  bulbs  should  not  be  placed  in  the  moss  until  the 
middle  of  May.  By  the  middle  of  June,  when  the  weather 
has  become  warm,  and  they  are  set  out,  they  will  start  to 
grow  at  once,  and  will  in  this  way  flower  from  three  to 
four  weeks  earlier  than  if  the  dry  bulb  had  been  put  in 
the  open  ground,  cold  as  it  is  in  the  most  of  the  Northern 


VIOLETS,    CHRYSANTHEMUMS,    ETC.  189 

States  in  May.  Of  course,  it  will  be  understood,  that 
when  the  dry  bulbs  are  placed  in  the  moss  to  start,  it 
must  be  in  a  greenhouse  or  in  some  place  where  the 
thermometer  will  average  seventy-five  or  eighty  degrees, 
or  they  will  not  start  at  all,  or,  at  least,  very  feebly.  It 
will  thus  be  seen,  from  the  foregoing  remarks,  that  it 
will  be  utterly  useless  to  attempt  to  grow  Tuberoses  at 
all  seasons,  unless  in  a  tropical  temperature,  which  at 
no  time  should  be  less  than  seventy-five  degrees,  and  if 
it  averages  eighty  degrees,  all  the  better. 

One  of  the  most  important  points  in  Tuberose  culture 
is  to  have  sound  bulbs  of  sufficient  size.  Figure  45 
shows  what  size  a  good  sound  Tuberose  should  be.  Figure 
46  shows  how  it  should  be  when  cut  through.  Figure  47 
shows  the  heart  or  center  rotted,  in  which  condition  it  is 
worthless  to  flower. 


CHAPTER     XXXVI. 

VIOLETS,  CHRYSANTHEMUMS,   CARNATIONS  AND 
MIGNONETTE. 

Violets  are  yet,  and  are  likely  to  continue  to  be,  one  of 
the  important  winter  flowers.  The  price  for  the  past  two 
years  averaged  higher  than  it  has  done  in  twenty  years 
previous,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  nearly  all  sections  of 
the  country  the  Violet  has  been  subject  to  a  disease,  a 
spotting  and  yellowing  of  the  leaves,  which  has  been 
completely  destructive  in  a  great  majority  of  cases.  The 
cause  of  this  disease  I  believe  to  be  from  the  same  source 
as  that  affecting  the  Rose,  Carnation,  and  many  other 
kinds  of  plants  used  for  forcing  in  winter,  namely,  that 
the  continued  high  temperature  necessary  to  produce 
flowers  is  contrary  to  what  the  nature  of  these  plants 


190  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

demands,  a  season  of  rest  in  winter ;  this  being  in  part 
denied  them,  the  plants  are  weakened  in  vitality  and 
consequently  become  more  or  less  a  prey  to  disease.  To 
avert  that  as  much  as  possible,  cuttings  should  be  taken 
from  the  runners  of  the  Violets  in  October,  rooted  and 
kept  in  cold  frames  over  winter,  which  gives  them  the 
necessary  season  of  rest,  and  planted  out  at  one  foot  apart 
each  way  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to  work 
in  spring,  by  midsummer  they  will  have  started  to  grow 
freely ;  from  that  time  until  the  middle  of  September  be 
careful  that  all  runners  are  pinched  off,  so  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  root  can  be  used  to  form  the  crowns  for 
flowering,  exactly  as  Strawberry  runners  are  pinched  off 
to  produce  fruit.  The  plants  thus. prepared  for  flowering 
about  the  end  of  September  are  dug  up  with  balls  and 
potted  in  seven  or  eight-inch  pots,  or  planted  in  five  or 
six  inches  of  soil  in  the  benches  of  the  greenhouse  at  a 
foot  apart.  Shade  and  water  for  a  few  days  until  they 
have  made  young  roots,  after  which  give  all  the  ventila- 
tion possible  until  Noveirber.  By  this  time  fire  heat  may 
be  required,  but  be  careful  never  to  let  the  temperature 
get  over  fifty  degrees  at  night.  As  the  plants  start  to 
grow,  all  yellow  leaves  and  weeds  should"  be  removed. 

The  greenhouses  used  for  forcing  Violets  have  usually 
been  the  narrow  eleven  foot  houses,  but  I  am  convinced 
that  the  rose  house  structure  (page  158)  would  answer 
better,  as  the  greatest  amount  of  light  in  winter  is  indis- 
pensable for  all  flowering  plants.  Care,  however,  must 
be  taken  that  the  heating  apparatus  is  so  arranged  as  to 
secure  the  necessary  low  night  temperature.  Thus,  when 
eight  runs  of  four-inch  hot-water  pipes  are  necessary  for 
the  rose-house  twenty  feet  wide,  six  runs  will  be  ample 
for  such  plants  as  Violets,  Carnations,  Primulas,  Stevias, 
Azaleas,  Camellias,  or  Mignonette ;  when  a  ten  or  eleven- 
foot  greenhouse  is  used,  three  runs  of  pipes  will  usually 
be  found  sufficient  in  the  latitude  of  New  York,  to  give 


VIOLETS,    CHRYSANTHEMUMS,    ETC.  191 

a  night  temperature  of  forty-five  or  fifty  degrees  in  cold 
weather.  The  varieties  used  of  the  double  kinds  of  Violets 
are  :  Neapolitan  (light  blue),  Maria  Louise  (dark  blue), 
and  Swanley  White  (white);  of  the  single  blues  the  Schon- 
brunn  is  the  best.  A  new  Double  Ked  or  Carmine-colored 
Violet  has  been  introduced  this  season  (1887),  known  as 
Madam  Millet.  It  will  no  doubt  be  greatly  prized, 
as  it  is  an  entirely  new  and  unexpected  color.  It  has  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  Maria  Louise  variety,  in  fra- 
grance, vigor  of  growth,  and  profusion  of  flowering. 

CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 

Chrysanthemums  until  recently  were  not  regarded  as 
winter  flowering  plants,  they  being  only  used  to  fill  in 
the  mouths  of  October  and  November,  a  season  at  which 
flowers  are  usually  scarce.  Now,  by  using  the  late 
flowering  kinds,  and  pinching  them  back  as  late  as  it  is 
safe  to  do  so,  say  September  1st,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
having  them  in  bloom  until  the  1st  of  January,  though 
they  hardly  can  be  had  much  later.  Another  value  of 
chrysanthemums,  not  generally  known,  is  that  the  flowers 
can  be  kept  in  water  in  a  cool  place  for  three  weeks  after 
being  cut,  which  is  longer  by  one-half  than  they  will 
keep  on  the  growing  plants  after  they  are  fully  developed. 

Two  methods  are  used  to  grow  chrysanthemums  for 
flowers  ;  one  is  by  growing  them  on  during  the  summer, 
beginning  to  shift  from  small  pots  in  May  or  June,  until 
seven  or  eight  inch  pots  become  necessary  by  October. 
The  other  is  to  plant  young  plants  in  June  at  twelve  or 
fifteen  inches  apart,  each  way,  inside  a  greenhouse,  or 
somewhere  where  they  can  be  covered  with  glass  by 
middle  of  October  ;  in  both  cases  the  plants  must  be 
grown  without  check,  being  watered  freely,  and  supplied 
with  liquid  manure  if  the  soil  is  not  rich  enough,  and 
regularly  "  topped,"  so  as  to  make  them  bushy,  the 
early  kinds,  however,  must  not  be  "topped  "  later  than 


192  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

1st  of  August,  though  the  late  kinds  may  be  pinched  back 
a  month  latter.  When  extra  large  flowers  are  desired, 
all  buds,  but  one,  as  soon  as  they  can  be  seen,  should  be 
removed  from  each  shoot,  this  will  produce  flowers  such 
as  are  seen  at  Exhibitions,  the  large  kinds  often  measur- 
ing six,  seven  and  eight  inches  in  diameter.  There  has  been 
quite  a  run  on  these  large  flowers  in  New  York  lately, 
single  flowers  of  Mrs.  Wheeler,  Count  of  Germany,  and 
Cullingfordi,  selling  for  fifty  cents  each  ;  ordinary  flowers 
average,  perhaps,  $2  per  hundred. 

As  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  growing  chrys- 
anthemums to  be  used  as  cut  flowers,  to  choose  the 
earliest  and  the  latest  kinds,  I  append  a  list  of  each 
class,  which  has  been  most  carefully  chosen,  and  is  the 
very  best  that  can  be  selected  at  this  date. 

EARLY  FLOWERING  CHRYSANTHEMUMS  :  Bouquet  Na- 
tionale,  fine  large  double  flowers,  pure  white,  with 
lemon  centre  ;  Bouquet  Fait,  delicate  rosy  lilac,  shaded 
silvery  white ;  Elaine,  beautiful  waxy  white,  perfect 
form,  extra  fine  ;  Early  Red  Dragon,  dark  yellow, 
streaked  bronze  and  crimson  ;  Gloriosum,  bright  sulphur 
yellow,  very  free  flowering  ;  Geo.  Glenny,  a  fine  old 
early  yellow,  incurved  ;  J.  Collins,  salmon  maroon, 
shaded  bronze  ;  Mrs.  Brett,  round,  sulphur  yellow  ;  M. 
Lemoine,  dark  yellow,  streaked  bronze  and  crimson  ; 
Md.  Grame,  pure  white,  fine  incurved  flower ;  Mrs.  S. 
Lyon,  large  single  white,  golden  centre ;  Sonce  d'Or, 
intense  yellow,  shaded  ''old  gold." 

LATE  CHRYSANTHEMUMS,  "CHRISTMAS"  COLLECTION. 
— Comprising  such  kinds  as  perfect  their  flowers  in  the 
house  about  the  holiday  season  :  Bend  d'Or,  pure  golden 
yellow,  as  the  flowers  mature,  the  petals  lap  over,  forming 
ribbon-like  belts;  Cullingfordi,  scarlet  and  crimson;  Count 
of  Germany,  vermillion  and  gold  ;  Christmas  Eve,  pure 
white  ;  Fantasie,  pink,  shading  to  white  ;  Fair  Maid  of 
Guernsey,  clear  dazzling  white,  immense  ball-like  flowers  j 


VIOLETS,   CHRYSANTHEMUMS,    ETC.  193 

Golden  Dragon,  very  large,  color  dark  golden  yellow, 
broad  heavy  petals  ;  Jupiter,  brilliant  reddish  crimson  ; 
Jas.  Salter,  clear  light  yellow,  beautifully  incurved,  as 
the  flower  opens  ;  Lord  Byron,  dark  rich  crimson, 
shaded  old  gold  ;  Lady  Slade,  delicate  purple  pink, 
beautifully  incurved  ;  Mrs.  C.  L.  .Allen,  carmine,  yellow 
centre  ;  Moonlight,  immense  size,  beautiful  lemon 
white ;  Mrs.  C.  H.  Wheeler,  vermillion  and  old  gold  ; 
Maid  of  Athens,  very  large,  pure  snow  white  ;  Talford 
Salter,  dwarf  compact  grower,  color  rich  crimson, 
streaked  golden  bronze  ;  Yellow  Eagle,  very  large,  dark 
golden  yellow,  ribbon-like  petals ;  Thorpe  Jr.,  rich  yel- 
low, Anemone-formed  center ;  one  of  the  best. 

CARNATIONS. 

The  cultivation  of  the  Carnation  is  very  simple.  It  is 
rooted  from  cuttings  at  any  time  from  October  to  April, 
and  as  the  plant  is  almost  hardy,  it  may  be  planted  out 
with  safety  in  the  open  ground  in  early  spring,  as  soon  as 
cabbage,  lettuce,  or  any  other  plant  of  that  nature. 
Many,  for  want  of  this  knowledge,  keep  Carnations,  in 
the  greenhouse  or  pits  until  the  time  for  setting  out 
tender  plants  in  May,  thereby  not  only  having  the  use- 
less trouble  of  taking  care  of  them,  but  depriving  them 
of  six  weeks  of  a  season  well  adapted  to  their  growth. 

They  are  best  planted  out  in  beds  of  six  rows,  nine 
inches  apart,  and  the  same  distance  between  the  plants, 
with  eighteen  inch  alleys  between  the  beds.  The  Carna- 
tion is  very  impatient  of  a  wet  soil,  and  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  land  be  dry  naturally,  or  it  must  be 
drained.  As  the  Carnations  grow  they  throw  up  flower 
shoots,  which  must  be  cut  off  all  through  the  se^^on, 
until  about  the  1st  of  September.  If  the  plants  are 
wanted  for  winter  flowering,  this  pinching  back  of  the 
flower  shoots  induces  a  dwarf  and  stocky  growth,  which 
is  very  desirable  in  the  Carnation.  If  they  are  grown  in 


194  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

large  quantities  for  winter  flowering,  by  far  the  best 
way  is  to  plant  them  on  the  benches  of  the  greenhouse, 
at  about  the  same  distance  as  they  were  growing  outside, 
any  time  in  October  ;  but  if  only  a  few  are  required,  to 
mix  in  with  a  general  collection  of  plants,  it  is  more 
convenient  to  grow  them  in  pots,  so  that  they  may  be 
moved  about  as  may  be  necessary. 

In  nearly  every  section  of  the  country  for  the  past  ten 
years,  there  has  been  great  loss,  from  an  insidious  disease 
attacking  Carnations,  causing  them  to  die  off  rapidly, 
both  in  the  field  and  in  the  green-house.  There  is  appar- 
ently no  remedy,  for  this,  but  prevention.  As  in  the  case 
of  Violets,  Roses,  and  other  plants  grown  for  winter 
flowers,  there  is  but  little  doubt  that  the  continued  forc- 
ing, without  rest,  debilitates  the  plants  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  invite  the  attack  of  fungi  and  other  parasites.  The 
remedy  then  is  to  rest  the  plants,  bringing  them  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  their  natural  condition.  To  attain 
this  in  my  own  practice,  we  have  for  many  years  rooted  the 
cuttings  of  Carnations,  Violets,  and  all  such  nearly  hardy 
plants,  before  January,  planting  the  rooted  cuttings  into 
boxes,  or  potting  them  in  small  pots,  and  when  sufficiently 
rooted  in  the  boxes  or  pots,  stowing  them  away  in  cold 
greenhouses,  or  cold  pits;  until  the  time  of  planting  out 
in  spring.  By  this  method  it  is  rare  that  we  have  any 
symptom  of  disease. 

Although  we  have  some  hundreds  of  varieties,  as  in 
the  case  of  Roses,  we  have  only  a  few  suited  for  winter 
flowering.  The  best  of  which  are  :  Hintzs  (white), 
Sunrise  (orange  yellow),  Century  (deep  carmine),  Gar- 
field  (scarlet),  Grace  Wilder  (light  rose),  Pride  of  Pen- 
hurst  (clear  yellow),  Royal  Purple  (crimson),  and 
Crimson  King  (crimson),  Quaker  City  (white)  very  late, 
La  Purite  (carmine). 

The  flowers  of  La  Purite  and  other  colored  sorts  sell 
in  New  York  at  $2  per  hundred,  the  whites  usually  at  $3 


BOCVARDIAS.  195 

per  hundred,  when  cut  with  long  stems  ;  for  short  stems, 
about  half  the  price.  Even  at  these  low  prices  they  are  a 
fairly  profitable  crop,  as  the  bulk  of  the  flowers  is  given 
previous  to  the  middle  of  February,  when  the  forced 
plants,  being  of  but  little  use,  are  usually  thrown  out  to 
make  room  for  other  plants.  Although  the  Carnation 
is  nearly  a  hardy  plant  and  may  be  kept  anywhere  in 
winter  in  a  cold  greenhouse,  or  pit  even  if  occasionally 
slightly  frozen,  yet  it  is  also  susceptible  of  being  forced 
freely.  We  usually  keep  our  houses,  when  we  are  forc- 
ing for  flowers,  at  from  fifty  to  sixty  degrees  at  night, 
with  ten  degrees  higher  in  day-time. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

BOUVARDIAS,    STEVIAS,     EUPATORIUMS,     HELIO- 
TROPES, P01NSETTIA,  AND  OTHER  WINTER- 
FLOWERING    PLANTS. 

BOUVARDIAS 

Are  propagated  by  pieces  of  the  roots,  in  April,  or  by 
cuttings,  during  the  summer  months  (see  Propagation), 
and  when  these,  from  the  root  cuttings,  have  thrown  up 
a  growth  of  two  or  three  inches  they  are  potted  in  two- 
inch  pots  and  planted  out  in  the  open  ground  at  a  dis- 
tance of  nine  or  ten  inches  apart,  in  the  latter  part  of  May. 

The  plants  that  have  been  put  out  in  the  open  ground 
in  May  will  have  grown  to  a  fine,  bushy  form  by  Septem- 
ber 1st,  if  due  attention  has  been  given  to  nipping  off  the 
tops  every  two  weeks  during  summer.  By  this  date  they 
should  be  taken  up  and  potted,  not  later,  as  the 
Bouvardia  requires  warm  weather  to  form  roots;  if 
possible,  they  should  be  lifted  with  balls  of  earth  adher- 


196  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

ing  to  the  roots,  as  they  wilt  very  easily,  and  the  plants 
require  great  care  in  lifting.  In  any  case,  it  is  necessary 
to  shade  and  freely  water  for  six  or  seven  days  before 
exposing  them  to  full  sun.  They  had  better  be  stood  in  the 
open  ground  or  in  a  cold  frame,  after  being  potted,  rather 
than  put  in  a  greenhouse,  as  it  is  very  necessary  that  they 
be  fully  exposed  to  light  and  air  for  as  long  a  time  as  pos- 
sible, before  placing  them  in  their  winter  quarters  in  the 
greenhouse ;  but  this  outside  exposure  must  not  be 
risked  too  late,  not  later  than  October  1st,  in  this  lati- 
tude, unless  they  can  be  covered  up  before  there  is  danger 
to  be  apprehended  from  frost,  as  the  Bouvardia  is  a  very 
tender  plant,  and  will  be  injured  by  a  very  slight  degree 
of  frost.  They  may  either  be  grown  in  pots,  or  planted 
out  from  the  pots  to  the  benches,  as  we  do  with  Carna- 
tions and  many  other  things.  Our  own  practice,  as  we 
have  before  said,  is  to  set  all  such  plants  out  in  the 
benches,  as  the  flowers  produced  are  much  finer,  owing  to 
their  having  a  more  regular  condition  of  moisture  at  the 
roots  ;  besides,  this  gives  a  greater  area  for  the  roots  to 
run  in.  We  have  said  the  Bouvardia  is  a  hot- house 
plant  ;  therefore  if  flowers  are  wanted  in  the  early  part 
of  winter,  the  temperature  at  night  should  range  from 
fifty-five  to  sixty-five  degrees.  The  leading  varieties  of 
Bouvardia  are  :  Double  Pink  ;  Double  White  ;  Elegans, 
single,  bright  carmine  ;  Vulcan,  single,  scarlet  ;  Priory 
Beauty,  single,  rose  color  ;  Dazzler,  single,  deep  scarlet ; 
Vreelandi,  single,  white;  Humboldti  is  a  beautiful,  Jessa- 
mine-scented variety,  with  large,  waxy-white  flowers,  but 
it  is  only  useful  in  early  fall  and  in  spring,  as  it  will  not 
flower  freely  in  midwinter.  Bouvardia  flowers  sell  at 
about  $2  per  hundred  trusses. 

STEVIAS  AND   EUPATORIUMS. 

Stevias  and  Eupatoriums  are  yet  much  used  for  winter ; 
they  are  white-flowering  plants,  of  no  particular  beauty 


STEVIAS   AND   EUPATORIUMS — HELIOTROPES.        197 

in  themselves,  but  admirably  adapted  from  their  feathery- 
like  sprays,  for  mixing  in  with  bright-colored  flowers. 
They  are  of  easy  propagation,  and  being  of  rampant 
growth,  had  better  always  be  grown  in  pots  throughout 
the  summer — plunging  the  pots  to  the  rim  in  the  usual 
way,  to  save  watering.  They  can  all  be  grown  to  flower 
in  a  low  greenhouse  temperature,  and  as  many  of  them 
bloom  rather  early  in  the  winter,  every  expedient  is  used 
to  keep  them  as  cold  as  possible,  without  freezing. 

Stevia  compacta  and  Stevia  compacta  nana,  very 
dwarf,  flower  during  November ;  Stevia  serrata  and 
Stevia  serrata  folia  variegata  flowers  rather  denser  than 
the  green-leaved  variety  and  beautiful  when  grown  as  a 
specimen  greenhouse  plant ;  both  flower  in  December. 
We  have  just  obtained  a  dwarf  kind  of  this  variegated 
variety,  which  will  prove  valuable  for  white  ribbon-line 
planting. 

Eupatorium  arboreum  flowers  from  November  to  Jan- 
uary, by  retarding  portions  in  cold  frames  ;  Eupatorium 
salicifolium  flowers  throughout  January ;  Eupatorium 
elegans  from  February  to  Marcb.  The  flowers  rate  at 
about  the  same  price  as  Bouvardias. 

HELIOTROPES. 

The  manner  of  growing  the  Heliotrope  for  winter 
flowers  is  nearly  identical  with  that  for  the  Stevia  or  Eu- 
patorium, during  the  summer  months ;  only,  like  the 
Bouvardia,  it  requires  heat  to  bring  the  flowers  out  in 
profusion  in  winter.  The  varieties  best  adapted  for  forc- 
ing are  :  White  Lady,  nearly  white  ;  The  Queen,  violet 
white  eye ;  Negro,  blackish  purple ;  Birnie,  lavender, 
richly  fragrant. 

The  Heliotrope  flowers  without  intermission  during 
the  entire  season,  if  kept  growing.  Flowers  average 
about  $1  per  hundred. 


198  PEACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

POINSETTIA   PULCHERRIMA. 

The  Poinsettia  pulcherrima  is  grown  from  cuttings  of 
the  green,  or  of  the  ripened  wood  in  April  or  May,  and 
shifted  as  required  during  the  summer,  plunging  the  pots 
in  beds  in  the  open  ground.  In  my  own  practice,  I  find 
that  boxes  eighteen  by  thirty  inches  and  six  inches  deep, 
are  more  convenient  than  growing  them  in  pots.  Six 
plants  are  set  out  in  each  box,  and  when  placed  on  the 
benches  where  they  are  to  flower,  the  sides  are  knocked 
from  the  boxes,  and  the  space  between  the  squares  of  earth 
filled  in  with  rich  compost.  Place  it  in  winter  quarters 
before  the  weather  has  become  cold  enough  to  chill  it, 
not  later  than  October  1st,  as  it  is  a  tender  tropical  plant, 
and  requires  a  hot-house  temperature  of  not  less  than 
sixty-five  degrees  at  night  for  its  full  development. 

Grown  in  this  heat,  it  is  a  plant  of  the  most  gorgeous 
beauty,  the  bracts  or  leaves  surrounding  the  flower-clus- 
ters averaging,  on  well-grown  plants,  one  foot  in  diam- 
eter ;  grown  as  a  hot-house  plant,  it  is  in  full  perfection 
at  the  holidays,  and  is  now  largely  used  for  decoration. 
Many  thousand  heads  are  sold  in  New  York  annually,  at 
an  average  of  $25  per  100. 

Euphorbia  jacquini flora  and  E.  splendens  are  plants 
of  the  same  family  as  Poinsettia,  and  require  similar 
treatment  in  all  respects.  The  former,  from  its  style  of 
growth,  is  much  used  for  wreathing,  but  neither  of  them 
are  as  yet  extensively  grown. 

BEGONIAS — OF   SORTS. 

The  Begonias  cultivated  for  winter  blooming  have 
drooping  Fuchsia-like  flowers  of  different  shades  from 
white  to  scarlet,  and  are  used  to  a  considerable  extent  as 
a  "fringe  flower"  for  sides  of  baskets  and  vases.  San- 
dersonii,  metallica  and  fuchsioides  are  fine,  having 
bright  scarlet  flowers  produced  in  great  abundance ;  ear- 


FUCHSIAS — JASMINUM — DOUBLE  BALSAMS.    199 

nea,  a  rich  pink,  and  marmorata,  a  flesh-colored  sort,  are 
also  desirable.  B.  rubra,  a  most  gorgeous  carmine  scar- 
let, has  panicles  one  foot  in  length  on  well  grown  plants. 
The  price  for  the  same  size  is  about  the  same  as  for 
Bouytrdias. 

FUCHSIAS. 

There  are  but  few  kinds  of  Fuchsias  adapted  for  con- 
tinuous blooming  in  winter,  but  these  are  very  desirable, 
and  whether  grown  as  ornamental  specimens  for  the 
conservatory  or  for  cutting  for  flowers,  they  are  much 
valued. 

The  best  in  our  experience  are  F.  speciosa,  F.  aurora, 
Earl  of  Beaconsfield,  Beacon,  Mrs.  Geo.  Bundle,  Beauty 
of  Swanley,  all  of  which  have  long  drooping  flowers  of 
light  colors ;  few  of  the  dark  kinds  flower  in  winter. 
Two-year-old  plants  bloom  in  the  greatest  profusion, 
plants  one  foot  in  diameter  giving  upwards  of  100  flow- 
ers, which  are  much  esteemed  for  their  rare  color  and 
graceful  drooping  habit. 

JASMINUM   GRANDIFLORUM. 

This  is  grown  to  the  best  advantage  by  permanent 
planting  out  in  the  greenhouse,  and  training  to  a  rafter 
or  trellis.  Its  pure  white  flowers  and  delicious  fragrance 
make  it  much  prized  at  all  seasons.  The  flowers  do  not 
carry  well,  as  they  drop  off  easily,  but  it  is  valuable  for 
home  use. 

DOUBLE   BALSAMS. 

Beginners  with  limited  means,  when  short  of  stock  for 
winter  flowering,  may  very  cheaply  procure  flowers  of  the 
Double  Balsams,  particularly  for  the  late  fall  months. 

If  sown  in  August  and  potted  into  six  or  seven-inch 
pots,  in  light,  warm  hot-houses,  they  will  flower  until  the 
holidays. 


200  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

BIGNONIA   VENUSTA   AND   JASMINOIDES. 

These  are  greenhouse  climbers,  which  only  do  well  as 
permanent  rafter  plants,  usually  not  flowering  until  they 
are  two  or  three  years  old  ;  by  that  time,  however,  they 
usually  cover  the  rafters  to  a  length  of  twenty  or  thirty 
feet.  B.  venusta  is  bright  orange ;  B.  jasminoides  is 
purple  and  white.  The  flowers  are  formed  in  immense 
clusters  and  are  extensively  used  during  winter.  The 
colors  of  both,  although  entirely  different,  are  novel 
additions  to  our  usual  colors  of  flowers. 

SWEET  ALYSSUM. 

Sow  in  August  in  a  cold  frame,  thin  out  so  that  the 
plants  will  stand  six  or  eight  inches  apart,  and  leave 
without  the  covering  of  the  sash  until  frost  is  expected  in 
September  or  October  ;  these  plants  will  flower  abundantly 
until  January,  if  covered  up  by  sash  and  mats  so  as  to 
exclude  the  frost ;  or  they  may  be  sown  in  August  or 
September,  and  grown  in  pots  and  flowered  in  a  cold 
greenhouse  during  the  winter  months. 

MIGNONETTE. 

The  following  article  on  Mignonette  is  copied  from  the 
"American  Florist "  of  November,  1886,  written  by  Mr. 
Charles  Bird,  Arlington,  N.  J.,  who  has  for  years  been 
one  of  the  most  successful  growers  of  Mignonette  in 
winter  for  the  New  York  market : 

"  I  will  first  describe  what  I  consider  the  proper  kind  of 
a  house  to  grow  this  plant  in  ;  afterwards  the  treatment. 
The  house  should  be  a  low  one,  without  benches,  as 
experience  has  demonstrated  to  me  that  sufficient  soil 
cannot  be  accommodated  upon  a  bench  to  allow  the  roots 
of  this  plant  the  freedom  and  depth  necessary  to  properly 
develop  itself.  I  would  prefer  to  have  the  house  running 
from  north  to  south  ;  that  is,  having  one  side  facing 
east,  the  other  west,  and  of  eleven  feet  in  width.  Dig 
out  a  walk  in  the  centre  about  eighteen  inches  deep,  brick 


MIGHONETTE.  201 

up  the  sides  with  one  course  of  brick  laid  flatwise, 
giving  them  a  slight  coating  of  cement  to  strengthen  them. 

"  Now  we  are  ready  to  prepare  our  border,  and  this  is 
an  operation  in  the  cultivation  of  mignonette  about 
which  a  great  deal  might  be  said.  I  once  read  an  article 
written  by  a  practical  florist  in  a  weekly  paper  about  the 
cultivation  of  flowers,  in  which  he  stated  that  '  most 
flowers  liked  deep,  rich  soil ;  there  were  some,  however, 
that  thrived  equally  well  in  any  soil ; '  and  mignonette 
was  one  of  the  plants  he  enumerated  as  among  the  latter 
class.  I  have  seen  mignonette  grown,  and  offered  for 
sale,  under  the  latter  conditions,  but  it  was  a  very  differ- 
ent article  from  that  grown  in  a  well-prepared  border. 
I  have  seen  roots  that  extended  down  by  actual  measure- 
ment seventeen  inches,  and  have  no  doubt  that  under 
very  favorable  conditions  they  would  root  much  deeper. 
My  advice,  therefore,  to  those  who  would  have  fine  mig- 
nonette is  to  spare  no  pains  in  the  preparation  of  the 
bed.  Enrich  it  thoroughly  with  plenty  of  well-rotted  cow 
manure — one  part  in  four  is  none  too  much — to  a  depth  of 
not  less  than  eighteen  inches  ;  mix  thoroughly  and  pul- 
verize well.  Of  course  the  bed  must  be  drained  artifi- 
cially, if  the  subsoil  is  such  that  the  water  will  not  pass 
through  freely. 

"Sow  your  seed  directly  in  the  bed,  or  put  out  your 
plants  from  seed  sown  in  pots,  any  time  after  August  15. 
Be  careful  not  to  allow  them  to  crowd  each  other  too  much. 
I  have  at  this  writing,  October  1,  two  houses,  each  one 
hundred  feet  long  and  eleven  feet  wide,  beds  made 
as  before  described,  sown  in  mignonette,  plants  all  thin- 
ned out  eight  inches  apart  each  way,  and  by  mid-winter 
very  little  of  the  soil  in  the  border  will  be  visible  by  reason 
of  the  foliage  of  the  plants.  This  distance,  of  course,  only 
applies  to  the  large  strong-growing  varieties.  The  plants 
of  the  common  old  variety  might  be  left  four  by  eight 
inches,  the  latter  being  the  distance  between  the  rows. 


202  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

The  plants  will  thrive  much  better  if  the  surface  of  the 
soil  is  gone  over  frequently  and  kept  loose,  and  great 
care  should  be  taken  that  no  chickweed  is  left  after  the 
plants  have  become  too  large  to  continue  this  operation, 
as  this  pest  luxuriates  in  the  cool,  rich  border,  and  will 
give  you  endless  trouble  later  on,  by  making  a  complete 
tangle  of  your  bed.  I  find,  in  watering  mignonette,  that 
if  kept  moderately  moist  it  is  tougher,  and  will  keep 
better,  than  if  kept  too  wet.  When  planted  out  in  a  bed 
like  the  one  I  have  previously  described,  during  the 
winter  months,  one  watering  each  month  will  be  found 
sufficient  (if  thoroughly  watered),  which  is  my  plan 
under  all  circumstances.  A  great  many  failures  in  the 
cultivation  of  flowers  and  plants  arise  from  the  hal>it  of 
half  watering.  My  plan  is  to  soak  thoroughly,  and  then 
withhold  water  entirely  until  the  appearance  of  the  soil  or 
plant  indicates  need  of  more  moisture. 

"  I  have  adopted  a  system  of  'brushing' — using  branches 
such  as  are  used  for  supporting  peas  ;  only,  of  course, 
of  a  size  suitable  to  height  of  the  mignonette — between 
the  rows  to  keep  the  plants  perpendicular,  for  unless  they 
have  some  support  they  will  fall  in  every  direction,  and 
the  result  is  crooked  stems  and  altogether  too  many 
shoots.  By  keeping  the  plants  as  near  upright  as 
possible  and  breaking  the  shoots  well  back  in  picking, 
the  number  of  shoots  needed  can  be  calculated  very 
easily;  and  the  last  spikes  gathered  in  June  will  be 
nearly  as  fine  as  those  picked  in  November  and  December, 
for  the  roots  are  down  feeding  in  the  cool,  rich  soil  at 
the  bottom  of  the  border. 

"  The  temperature  must  be  low,  about  forty  degrees  at 
night ;  no  matter  if  it  touches  freezing  point ;  give  plenty 
of  air  whenever  the  weather  will  permit.  It  will  not 
mature  as  fast  as  if  kept  warmer,  but  your  spikes  will  be 
all  the  finer,  and  you  will  find  a  steady  demand  and 
ready  sale.  I  don't  know  any  plant  that  'mixes'  as 


MIGNONETTE— AZALEAS,  203 

easily  as  this.  The  greatest  care  must  be  taken  in 
saving  seed  if  you  would  preserve  pure  any  particular 
strain,  and  I  find,  instead  of  improving  by  mixing  and 
promiscuous  gathering  of  seed,  that  the  reverse  is  the 
case.  A  neighbor  of  mine  has  a  number  of  hives  of  bees, 
and  in  the  early  spring  the  odor  of  my  mignonette 
attracts  them,  and  they  literally  swarm  among  the 
blooms  ;  of  course  if  there  are  any  plants  of  inferior 
quality  in  the  beds  the  other  plants  are  thoroughly  fer- 
tilized from  them  by  the  bees,  and  my  crop  of  seed  is 
badly  mixed  ;  hence  the  importance  of  weeding  out  any 
plants  of  inferior  quality  before  any  blossoms  have 
developed  from  which  you  intend  saving  seed.  A  notion 
prevails  that  home-grown  seed  is  not  as  good  as  imported 
seed.  This  is  sheer  nonsense  ;  it  may  apply  to  some 
varieties  of  plants,  but  certainly  not  to  mignonette. 
When  home-grown  seed  has  failed  to  give  satisfaction 
it  is  because  of  lack  of  pains  in  harvesting,  or  poor 
cultivation."  This  is  true  of  nearly  all  seeds  ;  it  is  not 
ivhere  it  is  grown,  but  what  is  grown,  that  determines  its 
value. 

AZALEAS. 

These  are  grown  to  a  considerable  extent  as  specimen 
greenhouse  plants  ;  propagated  from  the  young  wood  in 
March  ;  potted  and  planted  out  in  the  open  ground  in 
May  they  make  fine  plants  by  fall,  but  most  of  the  varie- 
ties do  not  bloom  freely  until  the  second  year ;  as  they 
can  be  grown  cheaper  in  Europe,  we  of  late  years  import 
nearly  all  we  sell.  The  Azalea  is  a  plant  having  very 
fine  roots,  and  consequently  requires  a  soil  composed 
largely  of  leaf  mould  or  peat  to  grow  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. There  are  now  several  hundred  sorts,  many  of 
them  of  great  beauty.  They  are  used  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  cut-flower  pieces,  particularly  the  white  varie- 
ties, double  whites  being  preferred,  as  the  flowers  of 


204  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

the  double  keep  much  longer  than  the  si  ngle.  The  plants, 
particularly  the  whites,  are  largely  used  for  church  dec- 
oration. In  growing  the  plants  in  winter  the  tempera- 
ture should-not  exceed  fifty  degrees  at  night. 

HEATHS. 

Heaths  are  at  present  little  grown  here  for  winter  flow- 
ers, our  hot  summers  making  their  culture  troublesome, 
except  with  a  few  of  the  freer  growing  sorts,  such  as 
Erica  gracilis  (carmine),  E.  persoluta  (deep  rose), 
E.  persoluta  alba,  E.  vernalis  and  E.  Actea,  all  white. 
They  are  best  grown  from  cuttings  of  the  young  wood  in 
March,  in  soil  similar  to  that  used  for  Azaleas  ;  if  planted 
out  in  the  open  ground  in  May  in  light  rich  soil,  they 
will  in  one  season  make  plants  large  enough  to  flower 
the  first  season  ;  but,  like  Azaleas,  they  are  cheaper  to 
import  than  to  grow.  Winter  culture  very  similar  to 
Azaleas. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

ORCHIDS. 
ORCHIDS  MOST  SUITABLE   FOR   FLORISTS'   WORK. 

Having  no  experience  in  Orchid  culture,  I  addressed  the 
following  queries  to  Mr.  William  Gray,  of  Albany,  N.  Y., 
whose  knowledge  of  Orchid  culture  is  second  to  none  in 
this  country  and  probably  not  to  any  in  Europe.  The 
replies  to  the  questions  are  in  every  instance  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Gray  : 

1st — What  are  the  best  twelve  or  twenty-four  kinds  of 
Orchids  most  suitable  for  florists'  work  ?  The  best  twelve 
for  florists  are  Catll<'iia  triamnce,  Dendrobium  nobile, 


ORCHIDS.  205 

DendroUum  Wardianum,  Lcelia  anceps,  Ccelogyne  cris- 
tata,  Lycaste  Skinner  ii,  Odontoglossum  Alexandra, 
Odontoglossum  Pescatorei,  Cypripedium  insigne,  Phajus 
Wallichii,  Calanthe  Veitchii,  Calanthe  vestita.  The  next 
twelve  are  Cattleya  Mossim,  Ccelogyne  ocellata,  Cypripe- 
dium Spicerianum,  Cypripedium  villosum,  Dendrubium 
crassinode,  Phajus  grandifolius,  Phalainopsis  amabilis, 
Phalcenopsis  Schilleriana,  Phalcenopsis  Stuartiana, 
Vanda  ccerulea,  Vanda  Sanderiana,  Zygopetalum 
MacJcayi. 

2d — What  kinds  of  these  are  best  suited  for  growing  in 
pots,  and  what  is  the  soil  used  ?  Cattleyas,  Dendrobiums 
and  Odontoglossums  do  well  in  coarse  chopped  peat,  pots 
nearly  filled  with  crocks ;  Ccelogyne  and  Lycaste,  coarse, 
sandy  peat,  with  chopped,  half  decayed  leaves  ;  Cypripe- 
diums,  Phajus  and  Zygopetalums  in  peat  and  loam,  and  a 
little  rotten  manure  ;  Phalanopsis,  Vandas  and  Laelias 
do  well  in  baskets,  pots  or  small  pans,  in  chopped  sphag- 
num ;  the  drainage  must  be  perfect.  Calanthes,  chopped 
sods  of  sandy  loam,  with  not  over  fine  leaf  mOuld  ;  the 
plants  must  be  made  steady  with  stakes  and  copper  wire. 

3d — What  kinds  are  suited  to  grow  on  bark  or  cork,  or 
other  such  material,  and  what  compost  or  other  substance 
is  used  ?  Cattleyas,  Laelias,  Phalcenopsis,  Vandas  and 
Dendrobiums  do  well  on  blocks  of  cork,  rafts,  cylinders, 
etc.,  with  sphagnum  or  other  moss;  but  take  more  care,  as 
they  dry  so  quickly.  A  plant  on  a  block  .will  take  water 
twice  a  day,  the  same  in  a  basket  only  once  in  two 
days  ;  blocks  can  be  hung  overhead,  but  the  expense  of 
dipping  the  blocks  twice  a  day  in  water  would,  for  a 
florist,  not  be  remunerative. 

4th — At  about  what  night  and  day  temperature  should  '    ; 
such  varieties  as  you  have  named  be  grown  ?     Phalce-      • 
nopsis,  Vandas,  Dendrobiums  and  Cypripediums  in  win- 
ter—thermometer, sixty  to  sixty-five  degrees  at  night,  to 


206  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

seventy-five  degrees  by  day,  with  air  ;  in  summer,  seventy 
degrees  night,  ninety  or  more  degrees  by  day,  with  plenty 
of  air  and  ventilation  at  night.  Gattleya,  Lcelia,  Phajus, 
Calanthe,  Ccelogyne  and  Zygopetalum — in  winter,  fifty- 
five  or  sixty  degrees  at  night,  seventy  degrees  with  sun 
by  day  ;  in  summer,  sixty-five  degrees  at  night,  eighty-five 
degrees  by  day,  with  plenty  of  air.  Odontoglossums — in 
winter,  fifty-five  degrees  at  night,  sixty-five  degrees  by 
day  ;  in  summer,  as  cool  as  they  can  be  kept.  All  want 
abundance  of  atmospheric  moisture  night  and  day. 

5th — What  period  of  the  year  is  the  growing  season  ? 
Phalcenopsif  and  Vandas  grow  at  all  seasons ;  Cypripe- 
diums,  Cattleyas  and  Lcelias  in  spring ;  Calanthe,  Cce- 
logyne,  Phajus  and  Zygopetalums  in  summer  ;  when  any 
plant  grows  in  winter  (except  Odontoglossums)  it  should 
be  placed  in  a  warm  house  ;  Odontoglossums  do  best  at  a 
temperature  of  fifty-five  to  seventy  degrees,  never  hotter, 
if  possible. 

6th — What  period  of  the  year  is  the  resting  season  ? 
Orchids  are  at  rest  when  the  growth  is  mature.  Cattleya 
triance,  Lcelia  anceps  and  Cypripedium  imigne  bloom 
during  the  resting  period,  which  is  from  December  to 
January.  Phalcenopsis  and  Vandas  grow  all  the  year ; 
during  the  short  dark  days  of  fall  and  winter  less  food  is 
given  by  withholding  water.  Calanthe,  Ccelogyne  and 
Phajus  bloom  with  the  maturity  of  the  growth,  then 
lay  dormant  until  spring. 

7th — What  is  the  best  shading  for  an  Orchid  house 
«heu  ground  glass  is  not  used  ?  The  Phalcenopsi*  and 
Odontoglossums  I  shade  with  canvas  raised  eighteen 
inches  above  the  roof  ;  all  other  houses  I  shade  with  thin 
paint,  made  of  turpentine  and  whiting  or  white  lead  ; 
lay  it  on  the  middle  of  March  and  brush  it  off  the  middle  of 
October  ;  the  plants  do  well.  Ground  glass  is  too  dark 
from  October  to  March  for  plants  ;  nothing  does  well  with 


OBCHIDS.  207 

me  under  it.  I  use  first  quality  glass.  The  glass  is 
shaded  with  canvas  from  March  to  October,  from  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
except  on  cloudy  days. 

8th — Any  further  information  that  you  think  would 
be  useful,  please  add. 

Orchids  grown  to  pay  a  florist  would  have  to  be  grown 
in  quantity,  each  species  with  a  house  to  itself.  The  most 
of  the  twenty-four  species  named  could  be  had  in  flower 
from  November  to  April  in  a  house  150  by  20  feet; 
all  plants  with  a  tendency  to  early  maturity  should  be 
placed  at  the  warm  end  of  the  house,  or  in  the  fall  parti- 
tion off  fifty  feet  at  the  warmer  end  for  the  most  forward. 
The  plants  would  have  to  be  imported  from  the  woods  at 
first  cost  (established  plants  at  present  prices  would  be 
too  expensive),  and  the  flowers  sold  cheap  to  become 
popular.  Orchid  growing  to-day  is  where  Rose  growing 
was  thirty-five  years  ago.  To  sum  up  :  In  the  culti- 
vation of  Orchids  all  plants  when  newly  potted  should 
be  made  firm,  otherwise  if  the  plants  move  by  syring- 
ing, or  other  cause,  the  rootlets  will  be  destroyed.  The 
atmosphere  of  an  orchid  house  should  always  be  moist, 
winter  and  summer,  in  winter  allowing  the  pottery 
material  to  become  more  dry.  Light  and  air  are  essen- 
tial to  vigorous  growth,  deluging  with  water  when  in  act- 
ive growth,  but  never  closing  top  ventilation  ;  never  hav- 
ing a  stagnant  atmosphere,  gradually  withholding  water 
as  the  growth  approaches  maturity,  and  then  only  enough 
to  keep  from  shriveling.  As  to  time  for  re-potting  the 
cultivator  is  guided  by  the  commencement  of  growth  ; 
plants  should  always  be  under-potted  as  long  as  the 
plant  is  not  top-heavy,  such  as  Cattleyas,  Lcelias,  Den- 
drobiums,  etc.;  a  top  dressing  is  all  that  is  needful. 
Calanthe,  Phajus,  etc., are  re-potted  annually. 

Insects,  such  as  thrips  and  aphis,  are  kept  under  by 
filling  the  evaporating  pans,  or  other  vessels,  with 


208  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

chopped  tobacco  stems  covered  with  water.  Slugs  are 
kept  down  by  placing  lettuce  leaves,  sliced  potatoes  or 
carrots  on  pots,  which  examine  daily  and  destroy ; 
roaches  and  water  bugs,  by  mixing  roach  poison  and 
molasses,  placed  on  oyster  shells  at  convenient  points 
in  the  greenhouse.  These  same  remedies  will  be  found 
effective  against  insects  attacking  any  kind  of  green- 
house plant. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

CHINESE    PRIMROSE,    GERANIUM,    CAMELLIA    AND 
EUCHARIS. 

CHINESE    PRIMROSE. 

Chinese  Primroses,  particularly  the  double  white,  were 
eighteen  years  ago,  when  I  first  wrote  "  Practical  Flori- 
culture," among  the  most  valued  of  winter  flowers ; 
but  since  then  the  fashion  of  using  flowers  mainly  with 
long  stems,  such  as  Roses,  Carnations  and  similar 
flowers,  has  thrown  the  modest  Primrose  nearly  out 
of  cultivation  for  the  purpose  of  cut  flowers.  The 
Chinese  Primrose  should  be  grown  in  rather  a  low 
temperature,  say  not  more  than  fifty  degrees  at  night. 
The  double  varieties  are  propagated  by  divisions  or 
cuttings  in  March  or  April,  and  require  a  shaded, 
cool  house  for  summer  growth.  Single  Primroses,  of 
which  there  are  now  some  very  grand  varieties,  both 
in  size  of  flower  and  truss,  and  in  brilliancy  of  colors 
range  from  richest  crimson,  through  all  intervening 
shades,  to  purest  white.  These  are  all  raised  from 
seed  ;  we  have  found  the  best  time  to  sow  is  in  February, 
in  shallow  boxes  (see  Propagation  of  Plants  from  Seed), 
picking  out  into  similar  boxes  as  soon  as  the  seedlings 


GERANIUM — CAMELLIAS.  209 

are  strong  enough,  at  an  inch  or  so  apart ;  they  can 
remain  in  these  boxes  until  May,  when  they  should  be 
potted  into  thumb  pots  and  kept  outside,  covered  by 
lathed  shutters,  which  give  them  the  necessary  shade,  at 
the  same  time  allowing  an  abundance  of  air.  In  case  of 
long  continued  rain  storms,  they  must  be  covered  with 
sashes,  but  not  otherwise,  until  they  are  taken  into  the 
greenhouse  in  October.  If  wanted  of  a  large  size  for 
winter-flowering,  those  plants  of  which  the  seeds  were 
sown  in  February  will  be  big  enough  to  be  put  in  seven  or 
eight-inch  pots  by  November,  they  will  be  at  least  one  foot 
in  diameter,  and  produce  abundance  of  flowers  during  the 
entire  winter.  No  plant  is  so  satisfactory  as  a  decorative 
plant  as  the  single  Chinese  Primrose  for  winter,  and 
large  numbers  are  now  grown  by  florists  to  sell  in  fall 
and  winter. 

GERANIUM. 

The  semi-double  varieties  of  the  Geranium  make  a 
most  brilliant  addition  to  our  winter  flowering  plants. 
They  are  of  all  shades  of  scarlet,  crimson,  carmine  and 
violet,  together  with  the  purest  white  ;  the  flowers  can 
either  be  used  singly  or  in  full  trusses.  To  get  the 
most  abundant  crop  of  winter  flowers  from  the  Geranium, 
the  stock  should  be  started  from  young  plants  in 
spring,  and  shifted  on  in  summer,  until  large  enough  to 
fill  a  seven  or  eight-inch  pot  with  roots,  when  it  should 
not  be  further  shifted,  as  too  much  pot  room  induces  too 
great  a  growth  of  leaves  ;  the  flowers  should  be  rubbed 
off  of  the  plants  during  the  summer.  Plants  thus  treated 
will  give  abundance  of  flowers  from  November  to  May. 

CAMELLIAS. 

Twenty  years  ago  Camellias  were  the  most  important 
flowers  used  in  the  construction  of  flower  work ;  now 
Cta.me  Fashion  has  put  her  yeto  on  the  Camellia,  and  the 


210  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

price  in  twenty  years  has  gone  from  fifty  dollars  per 
hundred  to  five  dollars  per  hundred  flowers,  with  little 
demand  even  at  that  low  price  ;  still,  it  seems  a  capricious 
and  invidious  "  boycott "  against  this  grand  flower,  and 
the  day  may  yet  come  when  it  will  be  appreciated  as 
it  deserves.  The  Camellia  requires  winter  treatment  and 
temperature  similar  to  the  Azalea— cool,  partial  shade 
and  low  temperature  for  the  best  results.  To  such  as 
desire  full  particulars  of  propagation  and  general  manage- 
ment of  the  Camellia  I  would  refer  them  to  the  excellent 
work  on  the  "  Culture  of  the  Camellia  and  Azalea,"  by 
Robert  J.  Halliday,  Baltimore,  Md. 

EUCHARIS. 

When  the  Eucharis,  or  Lily  of  the  Amazon,  is  grown 
successfully,  it  is  greatly  valued,  being  much  used  in 
the  best  funeral  work.  The  point  is  to  get  clean,  healthy 
plants,  free  from  mealy  bug  (which  is  a  great  pest  to 
this  plant).  Keep  potting  it  on  as  required  until  Octo- 
ber. When  the  ball  is  well  matted  with  white  roots  it 
may  be  grown  in  a  partially  shaded  greenhouse,  both 
during  summer  and  winter,  with  a  night  temperature  in 
winter  of  sixty  or  sixty-five  degrees.  Water  should  be 
sparingly  given  after  the  pots  have  become  filled  with 
roots,  only  enough  to  keep  the  plants  from  wilting,  from 
September  to  October,  until  the  plant  begins  to  throw  up 
flower  shoots  in  November,  when  it  may  be  watered 
freely.  There  are  several  species  now,  but  the  best  for 
winter  appear  to  be  E.  candidus  and  E.  grandiflorus. 

TROP^EOLUMS. 

The  single  and  double  scarlet  Tropaeolums,  when 
trained  on  rafters,  which  can  be  often  done  without 
much  interfering  with  the  growth  of  other  plants  in  the 
greenhouse,  are  very  useful,  particularly  for  country 
florists  having  a  local  demand  for  cut  flowers,  as  few 


PLANTS   USED   FOR    FOLIAGE.  211 

things  flower  so  freely,  and  the  scarlet  coloring  is  unex- 
celled in  brilliancy  by  anything  else  grown  in  winter  for 
cut  flowers. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

PLANTS  USED  FOR  FOLIAGE-SMILAX,  ASPARAGUS, 
FERNS,  ETC. 

In  the  formation  of  cut  flowers  into  bouquets,  etc.,  the 
leaves  form  an  indispensable  part.  In  trimming  the 
edges  of  baskets,  Camellia  leaves  are  yet  much  used, 
also  Oissus  discolor,  a  climbing  hot-house  plant,  with 
brownish-crimson  leaves  splashed  with  white  ;  it  requires 
a  temperature  of  at  least  sixty  degrees  in  winter,  and 
never  develops  its  rich  coloring  unless  at  a  high  temper- 
ature. Myrsiphyllum  asparagoides  (Smilax)  is  yet  un- 
surpassed for  all  kinds  of  floral  decorations,  whether  for 
the  person,  or  in  adding  grace  to  floral  ornaments  for  the 
table  or  room.  Its  leaves,  or  what  passes  for  leaves,  are 
small  and  glossy,  are  attached  to  very  delicate  wavy 
stems,  and  have  the  quality  of  retaining  their  firmness 
for  a  long  time  without  wilting.  The  plant  is  raised  from 
the  seed,  or  the  roots  may  be  purchased  from  dealers. 
The  root  consists  of  a  cluster  of  fleshy  tubers  that  tbrow 
out  several  slender  stems,  which,  if  furnished  with  sup- 
ports, will  climb  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet.  In  the 
vicinity  of  all  our  large  cities  greenhouses  are  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  cultivation  of  Smilax — the  roots  being 
planted  in  boxes,  or  in  beds  upon  the  ground,  and  the 
stems  trained  by  strings  up  to  the  rafters.  The  plants 
are  usually  set  at  four  inches  apart  each  way,  and  the 
stem  quickly  attaches  itself  to  the  strings,  which  should 
be  at  least  eight  or  ten  feet  long.  The  best  plants  of 


212  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Smilax  to  plant  are  such  as  have  been  grown  the  year  pre- 
vious from  seed  ;  these,  if  set  out  in  August,  will  give  a 
full  crop  by  November.  The  stems  being  cut  the  roots 
will  produce  another  crop  by  March,  and  yet  another  by 
May,  if  well  handled  ;  the  night  temperature,  after  No- 
vember, should  be  from  fifty-five  to  sixty.  As  Smilax 
does  not  require  a  specially  light  house,  if  such  a  house 
is  used  for  it  in  the  summer  months  it  had  better  be 
shaded.  Any  good  rich,  loamy  soil  will  grow  Smilax. 

Since  Smilax  was  introduced  we  have  had  two  rivals 
useful  for  festooning  purposes— namely,  the  Climbing 
Fern  (Lygodium  scandens)  and  Climbing  Asparagus 
(Asparagus  tenuissimus) ,  but  neither  have  taken  well, 
and  I  believe  that  a  few  years  longer  will  put  them  out 
of  cultivation  for  the  purposes  for  which  Smilax  is  used. 
The  cultivation  of  these  is  almost  identical  with  that 
of  Srnilax,  except  that  the  Asparagus  does  not  seed  and  is 
raised  from  cuttings. 

ROSE,  LEMON   AND   APPLE-SCENTED   GERANIUMS. 

The  leaves  of  various  scented  geraniums  are  also  used 
for  mixing  with  flowers.  When  used  in  the  summer 
months  the  plants  are  usually  planted  out,  but  when  re- 
quired for  winter  the  treatment  should  be  the  same  as 
for  winter-flowering  geraniums. 

FERNS. 

Ferns  are  much  used  for  winter  decoration,  both  as 
plants  and  to  mix  with  cut-flower  work.  The  species 
used  are  comparatively  few  and  are  mainly  the  Adian- 
tums,  or  Maiden  Hair  Ferns.  Small  plants  of  Adiantum 
are  now  used  to  mix  in  with  baskets  of  cut  flowers, 
instead  of  using  the  cut  fronds.  Among  the  best  are  : 
Adiantum  cuneatum,  A.  amabilis,  A.  Roenbeckii, 
A.  Williamsii,  A.  decorum,  and  A.  Farleyense.  Of 
other  genera,  are ;  Dc^vallia  Mooriana,  Pteris 


PLAtfTS  USED   FOR  DECORATION   02  ROOMS.         2l3 

Pteris  cretica  alba  lineata,  Nephrolepsis  exaltata  and 
Onychium  Japonicum.  As  the  culture  of  Ferns  is  a 
special  part  of  floriculture,  requiring  conditions  of  struc- 
ture not  usually  found  in  ordinary  florists  establish- 
ment, I  advise  the  purchase  of  plants  from  those  who 
make  a  special  business  of  growing  ferns,  of  which  there 
are  now  some  in  the  vicinity  of  all  large  cities. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 
PLANTS  USED  FOR  DECORATION  OF  ROOMS. 

In  many  cities  of  Europe,  but  particularly  in  London, 
an  immense  business  is  done  in  loaning  plants  for  the 
decoration  of  public  halls,  churches  and  private  dwell- 
ings. For  the  past  dozen  years  a  good  deal  has  been 
done  in  it  in  our  own  large  cities ;  but  our  climate  in 
winter  is  often  such  that  it  is  a  very  hazardous  matter  to 
transport  tropical  plants,  even  for  a  short  distance,  when 
the  thermometer  stands  at  zero,  with  a  high  wind, 
unless  tight  covered  wagons  are  used,  with  some  means 
of  heating  them  inside  ;  even  a  distance  of  a  half  a  mile 
may  be  fatal  to  the  plants.  Such  risks  taken  into  con- 
sideration, together  with  the  injury  often  done  to  plants 
by  gas,  getting  dry,  or  other  accidents,  at  least  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  plant  should  be  received 
per  night  for  the  loan  ;  that  is,  for  each  plant  the  selling 
value  of  which  is  $10  the  nightly  rent  should  be 
$2.50  if  for  one  night  only;  of  course,  if  for  a  longer 
time  the  price  might  be  reduced  accordingly.  Again, 
the  distance  and  the  time  of  the  year  should  enter  into 
the  question  ;  if  the  distance  is  great  and  the  weather 
severe,  the  risk  to  the  owner  of  the  plants  is  increased, 
and  he  should  charge  accordingly. 

The  kinds  of  plants  used  are  comparatively  few,  and 
are  such  as  are  valued  for  grace  of  form  and  foliage  moro 


214  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

than  for  flower.  The  place  where  the  plants  are  to  be 
used  must  determine  their  size  and  their  kind  ;  if  for  very 
large  halls,  then  large  palms,  often  six  feet  in  height 
and  diameter  are  used  ;  but  if  for  church  decoration,  to 
be  simply  used  on  the  platform,  plants  from  one  to  three 
feet  are  best ;  and  here,  flowering  plants,  particularly  at 
Easter,  are  used  in  preference.  Among  the  palms  best 
suited  for  decoration  are  :  Latania  Borbonica,  Seaforthia 
elegans,  Kentia  australis,  K.  Belmoriana,  K.  Foster- 
iana,  K.  Wendlandi,  Areca  lutesQens,  A.  Bauerii,  A. 
Verschaffeltii,  Raphis  flabelliformis,  Phoenix  rupicola, 
P.  reclinata,  P.  tennis,  Coryplia  australis,  Chamcerops 
excelsa  and  Cocos  Wedleyana.  Of  Dracenas  :  D.  termin- 
alifi,  D.  indivisia,  D.  Cooperii,  D.  fragrans,  D.  draco^ 
and  D.  australis.  The  "rubber  plant,"  Ficus  elastica, 
Pandanus  utilis,  P.  Veitchii,  are  all  much  used.  Plants 
used  in  fruit,  such  as  :  Solanum  Hendersonii,  Ardisia 
crenulata  ;  for  flower,  Chinese  Primroses,  Deutzias,  Be- 
gonias, Cinerarias,  Azaleas,  Geraniums,  Hyacinths  and 
Tulips,  Mignonette,  Madam  Plantier,  or  other  white 
Roses,  are  all  used  for  decoration  at  Easter,  and  other 
occasions  for  church  work.  For  decoration  at  any  date 
previous  to  January  nothing  is  equal  to  well-grown 
plants  of  Chrysanthemums,  which  are  now  largely  used 
for  such  purposes. 

For  the  verandas  of  summer  hotels,  or  those  places 
where  plants  are  used  for  decoration  during  the  summer 
or  early  fall  months,  thefancy-leavedC'afoefo'ww*,  of  which 
there  is  now  a  most  extensive  variety,  truly  wonderful 
in  their  leaf  markings,  a  description  of  which  it  is  use- 
less to  attempt,  are  finely  adapted,  as  they  are  of  the 
easiest  growth  during  the  hot  months  ;  plants  from 
three  inch  pots  in  May  can  be  grown  to  a  width  of  one 
and  a  half  to  two  feet  by  September.  The  fancy  kinds  of 
Caladiums,  though  most  of  them  are  useless  for  planting 
in  the  open  ground,  are  easily  grown  under  glass  or  on 


PLANTS   UNDER  GLASS.  215 

verandas,  and  make  grand  plants  for  summer  or  fall  dec- 
oration, as  their  beautiful  markings  become  fully  devel- 
oped as  the  season  advances.  Begonia  rex  is  also  well 
adapted  for  verandas. 


CHAPTER   XLII. 

GENERAL   COLLECTION  OF    PLANTS  GROWN  UNDER 

GLASS. 

The  tender  plants,  grown  under  glass,  in  our  climate 
are  divided  into  two  classes — those  styled  "  greenhouse 
plants,"  which  may  be  grown  in  a  night  temperature  of 
from  forty  to  fifty  degrees  ;  and  those  known  as  "hot- 
house" or  "stove  plants,"  requiring  a  night  temperature 
from  sixty  to  seventy  degrees,  with  a  day  temperature,  in 
both  cases,  from  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  higher.  But  the 
line  of  temperature  between  greenhouse  and  hot-house 
plants  cannot  be  closely  drawn  ;  still,  it  will  help  begin- 
ners to  give  a  short  list  of  each,  until  experience  enables 
them  to  make  nicer  distinctions.  For  a  more  extended 
list,  see  special  greenhouse  catalogues. 

GREENHOUSE  PLANTS— NIGHT  TEMPERATURE  FROM  FORTY 

TO  FIFTY  DEGREES  : 

Abelia.  Bignonia.  Correa. 

Abutilon.  Bonapartea.  Crowea. 

Acacia.  Burchellia.  Cuphea. 

Achyranthes.  Calceolaria.  Cyclamen. 

Agapanthus.  Calla.  Cyperus. 

Agave.  Camellia.  Daphne. 

Ageratum.  Campsidium.  Dianthus. 

Antirrhinum.  Centaurea.  Diosma. 

Alonsoa.  Cereus.  Diplacus. 

Aloysia.  Cestrum.  Epacris. 

Ardisia.  Chorozema.  Echeverias. 

Artemisia.  Cineraria.  Epiphyllum. 

Asclepias.  Clethra.  Erica. 

Azalea.  Clivia.  Erythrina. 

Babiana.  Convolvulus.  Eugenia. 

Beaufortia.  Coronilla.  Eupatorium. 


216 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


Fabiana. 

Ferraria. 

Fuschias. 

Gardenia. 

Gazania. 

Geranium. 

Hydrangea. 

Indigofera. 

Inga. 

Jasminum. 

Kennedya. 

Lacheualia. 

Lechenaulia. 

Libonia. 

Lobelia. 

l.iiiuiii. 

Mahernia. 


Manettia. 

MandeviUa. 

Maurandia. 

Metrosideros. 

Mimulus. 

Mesembryanthemum. 

Myrsiphyllum. 

Mimulus. 

Myrtus. 

Nerium. 

Passiflora. 

Pelargonium. 

Pentstemon. 

Petunia. 

Pilea. 

Pyrethrum. 

Primula. 


Pilogene. 

Khynchospermum. 

Ruellia. 

Scutellaria. 

Sedum. 

Senecio. 

Solandra. 

Solanum. 

Sollya. 

Sparmannia. 

Stevia. 

Streptosolen. 

Tradescantia. 

Tremandra. 

Verbena. 

Veronica. 


STOVE,  OR  HOT-HOUSE   PLANTS, 


Comprising  such  plants  as  should  be  kept  at  a  night 
temperature  ranging  from  sixty  to  seventy  degrees  : 


Dichorisandra. 

Dieffenbachia. 

Dipladenia. 

Dracaena. 

Echites. 

Eucharis. 

Eranthemum. 

Euphorbia. 

Gesneria. 

Gloriosa. 

Gloxinia. 

Goldfussia. 

Goodyera. 

Heliotrope. 

Hoya. 

ImantophyUum. 

Ipomoea. 

Justicia. 

Lapageria. 

Lasiandra. 

Maranta. 


vEschynanthus. 

AUamanda. 

Alocasia. 

Alternanthera. 

Anthurium. 

Aphelandra. 

Aralia. 

Ardisia. 

Begonia. 

Bertolonia. 

Billbergia. 

Bonapartea. 

Bouganvillea. 

Brexia. 

Jaladium. 

Centradenia. 

Cissus. 

Clerc<J°,ndron. 

Coleu. 

Croton. 

For  lists  of  hardy  and  tender  annuals,  see  the  seed  catalogues. 
For  lists  of  hardy  shrubs,  see  nurserymen's  catalogues. 
For  lists  of  climbing  plants,  see  nurserymen's  catalogues. 
For  lists  of  hardy  herbaceous  plants,  see  lists  of  such  as  make  a  spe- 
cial business  of  growing  them. 


Medinilla. 

Monochaetum. 

Nepenthes. 

Philodendron. 

Poinsettia. 

Pothos. 

Rogiera. 

Rondeletia. 

Ruellia. 

Russelia. 

Sanchezia. 

Sonerilla. 

Stephanotis. 

Tacsonia. 

Tapina. 

Tielanthera. 

Tillandsia. 

Torenia. 

Tropaeolum. 

Tydaea. 

Urceolina. 


COKSTRUCTlOtf  01?  BOUQUEtS,   ETC.  217 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 
CONSTRUCTION  OF  BOUQUETS,  BASKETS,  ETC. 

The  greater  part  of  the  following  chapter  on  making 
up  flowers  into  bouquets,  etc.,  descriptive  of  the  va- 
rious styles  then  in  use  in  New  York  and  vicinity,  was 
written  by  James  EL  Park,  of  Brooklyn,  L.I.,  in  1868. 
Since  then  there  have  been  innovations  made  that  render 
some  of  Mr.  Park's  instructions  then  given  of  little  use. 
These  portions  I  have  stricken  out,  adding,  to  the  best  of 
my  information,  the  flowers  now  most  in  use,  with  the  pres- 
ent modes  of  construction.  Mr.  Park's  taste  and  judg- 
ment in  this  business  gave  him  an  enviable  reputation,  and 
had  the  natural  consequence  of  bringing  to  him  the  best 
customers  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  so  that  at  the  age 
of  forty-five  he  was  enabled  to  retire  on  a  fortune  of 
upwards  of  $100,000,  made  entirely  from  the  profits  of 
his  business,  begun  on  a  capital  of  $3,000  fifteen  years 
before,  a  better  showing  than  any  one  within  my  know- 
ledge has  ever  made  under  similar  circumstances. 

With  the  earliest  civilization  of  our  race,  flowers 
began  to  be  cherished  and  employed  for  decorative  pur- 
poses ;  nor  is  their  arrangement  in  bouquets  a  modern  art, 
although  its  practice  is  of  comparatively  recent  and  mar- 
vellous growth  among  us. 

Many  people  decry  the  artificial  arrangement  of 
flowers  ;  but  how  shall  we  otherwise  use  them  to  advan- 
tage ?  The  moment  we  begin  to  tie  them  together  we 
leave  nature,  and  ought  to  do  so  only  to  study  art.  In 
their  simplest  arrangement,  form  and  color  must  be 
studied  to  produce  the  best  effect,  and  whoever  best 
accomplishes  this  will  surely  succeed  in  displaying  his 
flowers  to  the  best  advantage. 

Bouquet  making  is  (01  at  least  ought  to  be)  the  art  of 


218  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

arranging  flowers.  Who  has  not  seen  bunches  of  beauti- 
ful flowers  cut  from  the  garden  and  tied  up  in  the  least 
artistic  fashion  with  the  most  stupid  result  ?  And  who 
that  has  attended  fashionable  weddings  or  parties  has 
not  occasionally  seen  a  large  bouquet  or  basket  in  which 
the  quantity  of  good  flowers  was  its  only  merit — where  a 
mass  of  flowers  was  muddled  together  in  a  most  incon- 
gruous fashion,  equally  removed  from  both  nature  and 
art  ?  Nor  is  this  fault  that  of  the  tyro  in  bouquet  making 
only ;  many  who  practice  it  as  an  occupation  have  not 
learned  the  first  principles  of  tasteful  arrangement.  Yet 
great  allowance  may  be  made  for  the  bouquet  makers, 
when  we  consider  how  much  like  labor  their  work 
becomes.  No  one,  trying  always  to  execute  this  work 
with  taste,  would  ever  accomplish  the  amount  of 
work  required  of  him  in  any  thriving  establishment,  a 
great  part  of  it  being  of  necessity  done  hurriedly  ;  and  as 
the  variety  of  flowers  is  so  great  and  constantly  changing 
with  the  seasons,  and  their  colors  so  varied,  it  is  only  by 
trying  them  in  various  combinations  that  the  best  results 
can  be  obtained. 

Probably  the  simplest,  the  easiest,  and  commonly  the 
most  desirable,  method  of  using  cut  flowers  is  arranging 
them  in  vases.  The  more  loosely  and  unconfused,  the 
better.  Crowding  is  particularly  to  be  avoided,  and  to 
accomplish  this  readily  a  good  base  of  greens  is  required, 
to  keep  the  flowers  apart.  This  filling  up  is  a  very 
important  part  in  all  bouquet  making,  and  the  neglect  of 
it  is  the  greatest  stumbling-block  of  the  uninitiated. 
Spiked  and  dropping  flowers,  with  branches  and  sprays 
of  delicate  green,  are  indispensable  to  the  grace  and 
beauty  of  a  vase  bouquet.  To  preserve  the  individuality 
of  flowers,  which  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  the 
placing  of  those  of  similar  size  and  form  together  ought  to 
be  avoided.  Thus  Heliotrope,  Stevia,  Eupatorium,  or 
Alyssum,  when  combined  lose  their  distinctive  beauty  ; 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  BOUQUETS,   ETC.  219 

but,  if  placed  in  juxtaposition  with  larger  flowers  and 
those  of  other  forms,  their  beauty  is  heightened  by  con- 
trast. It  may  be  stated  as  a  rule,  that  small  flowers  should 
never  be  massed  together.  Large  flowers  with  green 
leaves  or  branches  may  be  used  to  advantage  alone,  but  a 
judicious  contrast  of  forms  is  most  effective. 

Nothing  is  so  strikingly  beautiful  on  a  refreshment 
table  as  a  handsome  centre-piece  of  flowers.  All  the  airy 
castles  of  the  confectioner  are  passed  over  by  the  eye, 
which  is  at  once  arrested  and  refreshed  by  the  brilliant 
beauty  of  the  products  of  the  garden  or  conservatory ; 
and  we  wonder  how  any  person  of  taste,  who  possesses  the 
means,  should  ever  fail  to  have  flowers  on  the  table  when 
entertaining  friends.  Considering  the  effect,  flowers  on  the 
table,  like  plants  in  the  garden,  are  certainly  the  cheapest 
of  ornaments.  There  are  those  who  would  have  nothing 
upon  their  table  but  what  they  can  eat  or  drink — like 
a  gentleman  who  once  employed  the  writer  of  this  to 
lay  out  a  new  garden,  and  objected  to  having  roses 
planted  by  the  fences,  saying  very  earnestly  :  "  Ah,  yes  ! 
I  suppose  they  are  very  pretty  ;  but  then,  you  see,  we 
couldn't  get  anything  to  eat  from  them.  Guess  we 
won't  have  any  of  them  things."  Luckily  for  the  well- 
being  of  poor  humanity  such  desperately  practical  men 
are  not  very  numerous.  An  epergne  filled  with  flowers 
forms  the  most  effective  of  table  bouquets.  For  a  large 
dinner  table  this  bouquet  holder  ought  to  be  from  two  to 
three  feet  in  height,  with  three,  four,  or  five  branches  ; 
and,  if  the  table  is  very  large,  a  small  epergne  at  each 
end  will  add  to  the  effect.  For  a  less  pretentious  table 
an  epergne  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  in  height  may  be 
used  to  equal  advantage.  The  superiority  of  an  epergne 
consists  in  its  raising  the  flowers  to  a  height  sufficient  to 
gain  their  full  effect,  whereas  forms  of  flowers  built  from 
a  lower  vase  lose  much  by  the  interference  of  surround- 
ing dishes.  With  a  handsome  epergne  and  the  flowers 


230  PRACTICAL  FtORlCULttJfcE. 

arranged  in  nearly  semi-circular  outline,  pointed  with 
two  or  more  handsome  flower-spikes,  diversified  with 
here  and  there  a  fine  fern  leaf  and  other  sprays  of  lively 
green,  with  a  few  fine  rose  buds  and  spikelets  of  heath, 
acacia,  or  similarly  formed  flowers,  projecting  from  the 
main  body  to  give  ease  and  grace,  and  with  a  profusion  of 
bright  green  or  variegated  foliage  and  flowers  in  droop- 
ing sprays  around,  the  best  results  may  be  attained.  For 


Fig.  48. — BASKET  OP  FLOWERS  (IN  FASHION  1867). 

such  a  bouquet  a  fair  proportion  of  large  flowers  is  indis- 
pensable, and  an  excess  of  projecting  points  is  to  be 
avoided  as  confusing.  Table  bouquets  made  in  the 
fashion  of  the  confectioner's  stiff  pyramids  of  macaroons 
are  wretched  decorations,  and  very  discreditable  to  all 
connected  with  them.  Better,  a  thousand  times,  to  have 
half  the  quantity  of  flowers  decently  arranged. 

Baskets  of  flowers  for  decorating  parlor  tables,  mantels, 
etc.,  ought  to  be  somewhat  in  keeping  with  their  sur- 
roundings ;  a  rough  bouquet,  adapted  to  grace  a  rustic 
table  at  a  picnic,  would  not  be  in  as  good  taste  here  as 


CONSTRUCTION    OF    BOUQUETS,    ETC. 


221 


something  finer  and  more  neatly  put  together.  Oval 
and  round  are  the  only  permissible  forms  for  flower 
baskets  ;  the  flowers  ought  also  to  be  rounding  in  form, 
yet  not  too  much  so.  We  give  an  illustration  (fig.  48) 
as  the  easiest  method  of  conveying  our  idea  of  the  best 
outline.  The  basket  shown  here  is  also  one  of  the  best, 


Fig.  49. — BASKET  OF  FLOWERS  (IN  FASHION  1887). 

but  whether  high  or  low,  the  open  round  or  oval  basket 
is  very  effective.  [I  may  here  state  that  this  formal 
method  of  filling  flower  baskets  is,  at  this  date  of  writing, 
completely  ignored  ;  but  it  is  well  yet  to  let  it  be  shown 
here,  for  who  can  tell  what  may  be  the  next  fashionable 
freak.  This  formal  method  of  construction  followed  the 
neglige  style  now  in  use,  which  was  that  of  forty 
years  ago  for  what  few  bouquets  or  baskets  were  then 


222  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

constructed. — P.  H.]  The  flowers  used  iii  the  basket  of 
flowers  shown  at  figure  48  are  :  For  the  center,  scarlel 
and  white  Fuchsias  ;  the  next  white  line,  Tuberoses  ;  the 
next  dark  line,  blue  Violets  ;  the  next  line,  white  Cam- 
ellias, the  outer  line  surrounding  these  being  Bouvardia 
elegans  (carmine),  while  the  edging  is  Camellia  leaves 
over-laid  by  sprays  of  fern.  Handled  baskets  we  deem 
out  of  place  for  parlor  ornaments,  having  doubtless 
been  originally  designed  to  carry  ;  the  handle  invariably 


Fig.  50.— HAND-BOUQUET   (IN  FASHION  1867). 

interferes  with  the  general  effect,  and  can  only  be 
tolerated  when  beautifully  trimmed  with  flowers  and  fine 
greens.  For  parlor  decorations,  high  stands,  with  or 
without  branches,  small,  pendant  baskets,  or  hanging 
baskets  of  flowers,  or  of  plants  with  rich  flower  sprays 
hung  around  them,  are  frequently  used  to  advantage. 
Balls  of  flowers,  like  hanging  baskets,  are  best  displayed 
from  the  centre  of  an  arch  or  folding  doors,  and  with 
festoons  of  flowers  looped  from  centre  to  sides  the  effect 
is  greatly  heightened.  Festoons  of  Smilax  or  other  greens, 
suspended  chain-like  from  the  top  of  a  plain  chandelier 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   BOUQUETS,    ETC.  223 

to  each  light,  with  festoons  of  flowers  from  the  center 
underneath  to  the  same  points,  make  one  of  the  gayest  of 
floral  decorations.  Wreaths  of  flowers  or  of  bright  green 
leaves,  or  of  both,  around  circular  or  oval  framed  pic- 
tures, may  be  used  on  especial  occasions  to  advantage. 
A  ball,  or  hanging  bouquet,  loosely  arranged,  suspended 
clear,  in  front  of  a  high  mirror  and  with  rich  festoons 
of  flowers  from  the  same  point,  looped  to  each  side, 
makes  a  splendid  display. 

The  circle  must  be  taken  as  the  line  of  beauty  in  all 
bouquet  making,    apart    from   those  loosely  arranged. 


Fig.  51.— HAND-BOUQTTET  (IN  FASHION   1887). 

Whether  it  is  a  table  or  hand  bouquet,  or  basket,  there 
must  be  a  certain  rounding  of  outlines  in  the  segment  of  a 
circle.  Hand  bouquets  admit  of  the  most  formal  arrange- 
ment of  flowers,  and  the  tendency  of  all  cultivated  tastes 
in  this  direction  must  be  admitted  as  proof  that  for  this 
purpose  something  more  than  a  mere  bunch  of  flowers  is 
required.  The  American,  French,  or  English  lady  never 
figures,  even  in  a  book  of  fashion,  in  evening  dress,  hold- 
ing a  bunch  oi  flowers,  or  any  odd  shaped  bouquet. 
Crude  forms,  pyramids,  balls,  etc.,  can  never  supersede 
the  slightly  rounding  bouquet  (fig.  50),  which  is  likely 


224  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

to  continue  for  all  time  the  true  form,  like  the  parasol, 
which  might  have  been  its  prototype.  [The  bouquet 
shown  is  constructed  in  the  formal  style,  and  with  the 
flowers  then  most  prized ;  its  width  is  probably  a  foot  of 
rounded  diameter;  the  ground  work  is  a  dozen  white 
Camellias,  each  surrounded  by  blue  Violets,  the  further 
filling  being  of  Lily-of-the- Valley,  and  scarlet  and  white 
Fuchsias. — P.H.]  Ball  bouquets  would  be  handsome 
enough  but  for  the  handles,  which  completely  destroy 
the  line  of  beauty.  As  for  those  abortions  of  the  same 
form  pointed  with  Rose-buds,  they  are  only  fitted  to  con- 
vey to  moderns  an  idea  of  the  ancient  weapon  of  war 
that  was  swung  by  a  chain  or  thong,  and  which  Sir 
Walter  Scott  describes  the  Baron  of  Smailholm  as 
carrying : 

"  At  his  saddle  girth  hung  a  good  steel  sperthe, 
Full  ten  pounds  weight  and  more." 

After  form,  the  most  important  point  in  bouquet 
making  is  the  arrangement  of  colors.  The  incongruous 
mixing  of  these  in  a  great  measure  destroys  the  effect  of 
the  finest  flowers,  while  the  more  delicately  the  coloring 
is  blended  and  the  more  strikingly  contrasted,  the  more 
perfect  and  pleasing  is  the  result.  Let  any  one  who 
doubts  this  compare  a  bouquet  of  the  best  flowers,  in 
which  many  colors  are  freely  used,  with  one  made  of  pink, 
shading  delicately  from  the  centre  to  blush  and  white, 
or  vice  versa,  and  with  a  few  tiny  points  of  bright  scarlet 
or  violet  tastefully  set  amidst  the  white. 

The  arrangement  of  colors  in  simple  geometrical  forma 
is  greatly  preferable  to  a  succession  of  distinct  rings  in  a 
bouquet.  The  ribbon  pattern  is  very  pretty  in  a  flower 
bed,  but  in  very  questionable  taste  in  bouquet  making.  [It 
will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Park's  taste,  in  defiance  of  the 
fashion  then  greatly  prevalent,  revolted  against  the 
formal  system  now  obsolete. — P.  H.]  A  bordering  of 
White,  blue,  or  pink,  may  be  generally  used  with  goo4 


CONSTRUCTION   OF  BOUQUETS,    ETC.  225 

effect.  Handsome  leaves  of  the  Geranium  or  Camellia 
(the  latter  is  preferable  for  its  brightness  and  durability) 
alternating  with  fine  sprays  of  green,  delicate  flower 
scapes,  or  spikelets  of  heaths,  or  Lily-of- the- Valley,  form 
a  fitting  edging  for  a  hand  bouquet.  A  fine  hand  bou- 
quet may  be  made  with  smooth  outline  and  relieved  by 
delicate  points  of  green  or  fine  leaves.  In  filling  out  a 
hand  bouquet,  half-dried  moss  is  preferable  to  bouquet 


Fig.  52.— CORSAGE  BOUQCKT. 

green,  as  it  can  be  used  more  readily  to  keep  the  flowers 
apart  without  so  much  increase  of  weight  and  stem  ;  a 
light  backing  of  green,  concave  underneath,  finishes  the 
bouquet.  White  lute-string  ribbon,  wound  around  the 
handle  and  tied  in  a  bow,  is  preferable  to  tinfoil. 

Judging  the  merits  of  bouquets,  etc.,  has  always  been 
a  very  difficult  point  amongst  gardeners  and  florists,  nor 
is  this  to  be  wondered  at  when  exhibitors  and  judges 
have  each  their  own  notions  of  excellence,  various  as  the 
men  themselves.  It  is  only  by  comparison  that  the 


226  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

merits  of  any  article  can  be  well  judged;  and  the  best 
connoisseurs  of  arranged  flowers  are  not  to  be  found 
amongst  gardeners,  who  have  few  opportunities  of  com- 
paring such  things,  but  amongst  the  lovers  of  flowers, 
the  men  and  women  of  cultivated  tastes  who,  having 
leisure  and  means,  find  pleasure  in  studying  their  merits, 
and  thus  set  up  for  themselves  a  higher  standard  of 
excellence.  An  unskilled  person  set  to  judge  a  collec- 
tion of  Pansy  flowers  would  probably  not  arrive  at  the 
same  conclusions  as  one  who  judged  the  same  flowers  by 
the  standard  rules,  which  hold  the  circle,  the  thick  and 
smooth  petal,  the  sharply  defined  eye  and  the  distinct  divi- 
sion of  colors,  as  the  only  true  marks  of  perfection.  A 
hand  bouquet  may  have  its  colors  inlaid  like  mosaic  with 
very  good  effect,  and  if  the  coloring  be  well  toned  and 
contrasted,  such  a  bouquet  mude  with  skill,  like  prize 
Pansies,  would  compel  any  one  who  saw  it  to  admire  it, 
although  many  would  object  to  it  as  stiff  and  unnatural, 
which  it  certainly  is,  but  it  is  also  a  handsome  bouquet 
nevertheless. 

There  are  some  flowers  the  colors  of  which  repel  all 
close  communication  with  others  ;  such  arc  the  purple, 
ruddy  purple  and  most  of  the  striped  carnations,  all 
Roses  with  even  a  tinge  of  purple  (and  this  includes 
most  of  the  hardy  Roses,  as  well  as  others),  in  fact,  there 
is  scarcely  any  shade  of  purple  which  can  be  used  to 
advantage  in  bouquet  making.  Excepting  blue  like  that 
of  the  Violet,  there  is  scarcely  any  shade  of  blue,  even, 
which  can  be  advantageously  used  in  a  closely-arranged 
bouquet ;  and  the  Violet,  beautiful  though  it  be,  is  a  very 
ineffective  flower  by  gaslight.  Still  more  so  is  the  favorite 
Heliotrope.  Many  shades  of  yellow  are  harsh,  yet  some 
may  be  used  with  good  effect  in  bouquets,  particularly 
when  toned  with  blue.  For  example,  the  racemes  of 
Acacia  pubescens,  either  in  bud  or  blossom,  as  a  border- 
ing fringe  are  exceedingly  beautiful  and  put  to  shame 


CONSTRUCTION  OF   BOUQUETS.    ETC.  227 

that  over-fastidious  taste  which  rejects  all  yellow  flowers. 
[Fashion  now  gives  preference  to  yellow  flowers  over  all 
other  colors. — P.H.]  Even  established  rules  on  colors 
fail  to  guide  us  always  in  the  arrangement  of  flowers. 
Artists  tell  us  that  blue  and  green  should  never  come  to- 
gether, yet  the  Violet  can  have  no  more  beautiful  setting 
than  its  own  green  leaves,  while  dark  blue  flowers  show 
to  equal  advantage  in  their  darker  green  foliage.  In 
Nature's  own  setting,  all  flowers  are  becoming  ;  it  is  only 
by  placing  them  at  a  disadvantage  that  they  can  ever 
appear  otherwise  ;  but  so  infinite  are  their  shades  and 
forms  that  their  perfect  arrangement  in  bouquets  must 
ever  be  a  work  of  taste  and  skill.  AVe  would  not  assert 
that  bouquet  makers,  like  poets,  "  are  born,  not  made," 
yet  we  know  that  many  in  this,  as  in  other  callings,  are 
and  ever  will  be,  utterly  unfitted  for  the  work  they 
undertake. 

Funeral  flowers  are  now  a  very  important  part  of  the 
florist's  trade.  Ten  years  ago,  ten  dollars'  worth  of 
flowers  were  more  rare  at  a  funeral  in  New  York  than 
one  hundred  now,  and  sometimes  one  funeral  demands  a 
thousand  dollars'  worth.  The  wreath  and  crescent- 
wreath  are  undoubtedly  the  best  forms  for  this  purpose, 
and  the  cross  is  a  favorite  and  beautiful  emblem.  An 
upright  cross  of  flowers,  solid  on  all  sides,  with  a  base  of 
the  same,  is  a  very  striking  object,  but  unless  well  and 
richly  made,  were  better  left  alone.  Anchors,  crowns, 
baskets  and  bouquets  are  all  used  for  the  same  purpose. 
In  any  of  these  forms,  the  slightly  rounding  surface  ia 
the  best ;  that  is  to  say,  the  flowers  in  the  wreath,  cross, 
etc.,  must  neither  be  flat  nor  to  highly  rounded.  [Funeral 
flowers  are  less  used  now  than  when  this  was  written, 
owing  probably  to  the  fact  that  some  dozen  years  ago  it 
was  carried  to  such  an  excess  as  to  be  a  heavy  tax  on  the 
poorer  friends  of  the  family  in  affliction.  But  the  turn- 
ing point  in  the  tide  of  fashion  was  when  one  of  New 


228 


PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 


York's  biggest  millionaires  was  dying,  he  requested  that 
no  flowers  should  deck  his  bier.  Then  the  toadies  to 
wealth — the  flunkies  of  fashion — took  the  cue,  and  there 


-  --*m 

Fig.  53. — FUNERAL  DESIGN    OF    1887. 

was  for  years  a  standing  protest  against  funeral  flowers 
from  the  fashionable  world.  But  the  fiat  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  stop  all  use  of  flowers  to  deck  the  dead,  for  the 
"common  people"  revolted.  The  hearts  of  sympathiz- 


CONSTRUCTION-  OF  BOUQUETS,    ETC.  229 

ing  friends  could  find  no  better  way  to  express  their 
feelings  of  veneration  than  by  sending  to  those  they  have 
loved  and  respected  a  few  flowers  as  a  last  tribute  of 
remembrance. — P.  H.] 

It  has  ever  been  a  matter  of  wonder  to  the  workers  in 
flowers  how  such  a  preponderance  of  white  is  required. 
Most  of  them  have  not  realized  (although  often  practis- 
ing it)  that  the  most  beautiful  colored  bouquets  have 
always  a  large  proportion  of  white  in  their  composi- 
tion. When  we  consider  that  white  flowers  are  used,  in 
quantity  at  least,  equally  with  flowers  of  all  colors  collec- 
tively, and  add  to  this  the  large  amount  of  white  flowers 
used  alone  for  funerals,  weddings,  church  offerings,  etc., 
we  may  more  readily  conceive  how  important  the  raising  of 
white  flowers  is  to  all  flower  growers.  We  believe  it  is 
safe  to  affirm  that  no  one  in  the  flower  business  fairly  dis- 
covered this  necessity,  until  the  vastly  increasing  demand 
for  flowers  in  late  years  forced  it  upon  his  attention, 
and  compelled  him  to  the  production  of  white  flowers  as 
the  most  important  part  of  his  business.  [White  flowers 
are  no  longer  exclusively  used  in  funeral  pieces ;  sub- 
dued colored  flowers,  mixed  with  white,  are  now  as  often 
used  as  those  entirely  white. — P.  H.] 

Bouquet  making  is  no  longer  a  paltry  business ;  the 
trade  in  flowers,  in  New  York  at  least,  has  fairly  out- 
grown that  of  flowering  plants,  and  when  so  much  of 
this  work  is  required,  and  when  that  which  is  well 
done  is  so  much  more  valuable,  it  becomes  worthy  of 
more  study  and  attention. 

Many  people  have  little  idea  of  the  value  set  upon 
flowers  by  some  of  their  fellow  mortals.  In  New  York, 
during  winter,  twenty-five  cents  is  a  common  price  for  a 
handsome  rose-bud  [Many  of  the  finest  buds,  such  aa 
American  Beauty,  Paul  Neron,  Magna  Charta,  and 
Baroness  Rothschild  are  retailed  at  one  dollar  each  from 
December  1st  to  February  1st ;  only  a  few  years  ago  they 


230  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

sold  for  one-third  more,  but  the  greater  quantity  now 
grown  has  lessened  the  price. — P.  H.],  the  same  per  dozen 
for  Violets,  while  Camellias  vary  from  one  dollar  each, 
when  scarce,  to  twenty-five  cents  when  plentiful.  At 
Christmas  and  New  Year's,  18G6,  Camellia  flowers  were 
frequently  sold  for  two  to  three  dollars  each.  [Now  Camel- 
lias have  no  sale  at  all  as  individual  flowers  to  be  retailed, 
and  sell  very  slowly  at  from  five  to  ten  dollars  per  hundred, 
to  be  used  in  mixing  in  large  pieces. — P.  H.]  The  price 
of  hand  bouquets  varies  from  fifty  cents  upwards.  What 
florists  call  good  hand  bouquets  sell  at  about  five  dollars, 
extra  fine  from  five  to  ten  ;  occasionally  they  bring  still 
higher  figures.  This  writer  has  sold  not  a  few  at  fifteen, 
and,  on  rare  occasions,  has  received  twenty  dollars  for  a 
hand  bouquet ;  and  that  from  men  who  knew  well  the 
usual  prices  of  flowers.  To  give  the  uninitiated  some 
idea  how  these  things  are  used,  we  may  mention  having 
seen  a  belle  at  an  evening  party  in  New  York,  carrying  a 
bouquet  in  each  hand,  while  three  others  were  strung 
from  each  arm  as  trophies  of  her  prowess  among  the 
simpler,  if  not  the  softer,  sex.  Of  course  this  display 
could  not  last  long ;  the  very  weight  of  her  attractions 
would  speedily  compel  her  to  surrender,  for,  be  it  remem- 
bered, those  eight  bouquets  certainly  contained  about 
sixty  Camellias  alone.  We  have  known  rich  and  fashion- 
able belles  even  more  favored  than  this,  and  have  heard 
of  one  having  fifteen  splendid  hand  bouquets  sent  for  one 
occasion.  We  have  never,  however,  heard  of  another 
showing  such  muscular  prowess  in  their  display.  Baskets 
of  flowers  commonly  sell  for  five  to  twenty -five  dollars, 
stands  from  fifteen  to  fifty,  extra  large  stands  from  fifty 
to  a  hundred.  [Baskets  of  Orchid  flowers  are  now 
coming  into  use,  and  of  course,  from  their  rarity  and 
the  expense  necessary  to  produce  them,  the  price  can 
only  be  within  the  means  of  the  wealthy.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  a  basket,  costing  ten  dollars  in  Roses  or  other 


CONSTRUCTION  OF   BOUQUETS,    ETC.  231 

flowers,  when  filled  with  rarer  Orchid  flowers,  to  pay  the 
grower  would  need  to  sell  for  one  hundred  dollars.  — P.  H.] 
Bouquets  for  refreshment  and  dinner  tables  range  from  five 
to  fifty  dollars  each  ;  we  have  ourselves  made  one  at  one 
hundred.  The  prices  of  wreaths,  crosses,  etc.,  vary  from 
five  to  twenty  or  thirty  dollars  ;  from  five  to  fifteen  is  a 
common  range.  On  one  occasion  a  New  York  florist  is 
said  to  have  supplied  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
flowers  for  a  private  entertainment,  but  two  or  three 
hundred  is  more  common,  and  esteemed  a  very  good 
order. 

A  business  which  in  New  York  alone  amounts  to 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually  [It  now 
reaches  millions. — P.  H.]  will  soon  assert  its  own  posi- 
tion, and  it  is  for  those  engaged  in  it  to  make  or  mar  it, 
as  they  conduct  it  more  or  less  respectably.  As  Ameri- 
cans assuredly  pay  better  prices  for  their  bouquets  than 
any  other  people,  let  the  florist  see  to  it  that  they  get  the 
finest  and  best  arranged  flowers. 

We  must  apologize  to  the  general  reader  for  the  minute 
description  and  the  technical  terms  used  in  detailing  the 
modus  operandi  of  construction,  but  it  is  necessary  to 
be  thus  particular  to  be  properly  understood  by  such  as 
are  interested  in  the  subject.  So  many  flowers  have 
short  or  unmanageable  stems,  or  grow  so  close  to  buds 
which  the  grower  cannot  afford  to  cut,  that  artificial 
stems  must  be  largely  used.  Even  where  stems  are 
available,  the  bouquet  maker,  in  all  good  work,  prefers 
having  another  added  to  hold  the  flower  in  position, 
the  strength  of  the  stem  being  proportioned  to  the  weight 
of  the  flower  it  bears.  Thick  stems  must  be  avoided, 
else  the  bouquet  handle  becomes  clumsy,— a  very  objec- 
tionable feature,  as  amateurs  speedily  discover,  particu- 
larly when  using  flowers  on  their  own  stems.  The  stems 
commonly  used  are  of  broom-corn  or  straw  matting,  cut 
in  lengths  as  desired,  from  four  to  eight  inches.  With 


232  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

this  and  hair  wire  cut  to  three  inches,  the  "  stemmer  " 
goes  to  work.  By  a  rapid  twist  one  end  of  the  wire  is 
fastened  on  the  straw,  and  the  flower  is  attached  by  a 
whirl  of  the  stem  between  finger  and  thumb,  as  in 
figure  54.  Stemming  is  a  large  part 
of  the  labor  of  bouquet  making,  and 
rather  distasteful  to  the  amateur.  One  . 
bouquet  maker  requires  two  stem-  >. 
mers,  and  a  very  prosy  business  it  t*^* 
soon  becomes  to  both,  and  vastly  less 
interesting  than  the  growing  of  flowers. 
Strong  spool  cotton  or  shoe  thread  is 
used  for  tying  up  the  flowers.  Camellia 
stems  being  entirely  unavailable,  a  wire 
the  thickness  of  a  pin  is  passed  through 
the  calyx  of  the  flower,  the  ends  being 
twisted  together.  It  is  then  stemmed 
on  a  light,  dried  willow  (wooden  tooth- 
picks are  also  much  used  for  stems), 
which  admits  of  bending  to  the  required  _ 

position.  Flowers  thus  stemmed  have 
sufficient  moss  wound  under  the  flower  to  prevent  its 
outer  petals  being  at  all  compressed,  when  set  in  the 
bouquet.  Without  some  such  provision  it  is  impossible, 
either  to  attain  the  rounding  outline  of  the  bouquet,  or 
to  display  the  flowers  in  perfection. 

With  flowers  prepared,  let  us  take  a  Camellia  [In  the 
method  of  construction  to-day,  for  Camellias,  large  Rose- 
buds are  used. — P.H.]  for  the  center  of  our  bouquet,  tie 
it  securely  to  the  bouquet  stem  (a  piece  of  kite  stick  or 
stiff  twig),  and  wind  moss  around  it,  as  already  described, 
to  keep  the  flower  from  outer  pressure,  the  moss  running 
to  a  point  about  two  inches  below  the  flower.  Six  yellow 
Tea  Rose-buds  are  now  set  at  regular  intervals  around  and 
on  a  line  with  the  outer  petals  of  the  Camellia,  and  the 
spaces  between  these  each  filled  with  a  small  piece  of 


CONSTRUCTION   OF  BOUQUETS,    ETC.  233 

white  Eupatorium,  a  very  small  Geranium  leaf  or  point 
of  delicate  green  beiiig  set  by  each  bud.  A  little  moss  is 
wound  lightly,  close  under  the  flowers,  to  prevent  crowd- 
ing, a  pink  Carnation  set  behind  each  Rose-bud,  with 
Tuberoses  between,  a  speck  of  Eupatorium  being  in- 
serted under  the  edge  of  each  Tuberose,  to  fill  out.  Six 
white  Camellias  of  equal  size  and  form,  stemmed  as 
described,  are  now  set  at  regular  intervals  around,  par- 
ticular care  being  taken  to  form  with  the  face  of  those 
flowers  the  correct  outline  of  the  bouquet,  and  their 


.  55.  —  WIRING   THE   CAMELLIA. 


stems  tightly  bound  to  prevent  working  out  of  place. 
Between  the  Camellias  on  the  inner  side,  another  Tube- 
rose is  set,  filled  out  with  a  speck  of  Stevia  under  each 
side  ;  more  moss  is  added,  and  a  bright  speck  of  crimson 
Bouvardia  forms  the  sole  dividing  line  between  the 
centers  of  the  Camellias  —  which  nearly  touch  each  other. 
A  yellow  Tea  Rose-bud  follows,  with  a  Violet  set  in  Sweet 
Alyssum  on  one  side  and  a  small  Geranium  leaf  in  the  same 
on  the  other  ;  a  white  Carnation  is  set  behind  each  bud, 
with  a  speck  of  Bouvardia  in  Eupatorium  on  each  side. 
A  light  border  of  Stevia  is  now  set  around  the  whole, 
and  with  Camellia  leaves  of  equal  form  stemmed  on 
willows,  and  projected  nearly  half  their  length,  the  bou~ 


234  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

quet  is  finished.  The  handle  is  trimmed  with  bouquet 
green,  or  fine  leaves  of  any  evergreen.  The  handle  is  cut 
to  about  three  inches,  and  being  a  hand  bouquet,  is 
wrapped  with  tin-foil,  wound  over,  and  neatly  tied  above 
with  a  bow  of  white  taffeta  ribbon. 

The  outline  of  the  bouquet  must  be  carefully  kept  as 
the  work  proceeds,  and  sufficient  moss  from  time  to  time 
packed  lightly  in  front  and  immediately  under  the 
flowers.  By  this  means  the  weight  of  the  structure  is 
borne  by  the  stems,  the  flowers  being  only  allowed  to 
touch  each  other.  Moss  not  only  serves  well  to  keep  the 
flowers  apart,  but  acts  as  a  sponge  when  the  bouquet  is 
set  in  water,  giving  moisture  to  flowers  with  the  shortest 
stems ;  and  bouquets  thus  made  are  more  durable  than 
the  casual  observer — who  gazes  regretfully  on  the  be- 
headed flowers — is  apt  to  imagine.  When,  in  addition  to 
the  moss,  a  piece  of  wet  cotton  is  stemmed  to  every 
flower  (as  the  writer  has  all  good  work  done),  the  natural 
stem  is  not  unkindly  superseded.  The  maker  must  work 
with  a  tight  thread,  to  prevent  the  flowers  getting  out 
of  place,  and  keep  a  clean  surface  on  the  handle.  Another 
method  of  bouquet  making  is  to  tie  a  ball  of  moss  rather 
loosely  on  the  bouquet  stick  and  insert  the  flowers  (which 
are  stemmed  to  suit  the  work),  drawing  them  down  to 
the  desired  position,  and  tying  as  the  work  proceeds. 

Vase  bouquets  are  made  similarly,  with  more  green 
"backing"  between  and  around  the  flowers,  for  loose 
arrangement  and  to  support  the  greater  weight.  Flower 
baskets  are  lined  with  tinfoil,  or,  if  not  likely  to  show 
after  filling,  any  tough  paper  will  serve  the  purpose ; 
they  are  then  filled  with  sawdust,  rounding  above, 
damped  and  covered  with  wet  moss  ;  a  border  of  arbor- 
vitae,  bouquet,  or  other  greens,  is  set  around  to  support 
the  over-hanging  flowers.  The  flowers,  stemmed  on 
twigs,  are  now  inserted  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
worker,  with  moss  packed  between  them  as  the  work 


CONSTRUCTION   OF  BOUQUETS,   ETC.  235 

proceeds.  Baskets  thus  filled  and  sprinkled  with  water 
keep  well,  but  the  more  common  method  is  to  insert 
bouquet  green  (Lycopodium)  over  the  whole  surface,  and 
arrange  the  flowers  therein  without  any  moss  packing. 
Wreaths  are  commonly  made  on  a  stout  wire,  which  has 
straw  matting  wound  upon  it,  to  enable  the  thread  to 
hold  ;  a  backing  of  green  is  laid  for  the  flowers  as  the 
work  proceeds.  Both  green  and  flowers  must  be  wound 
on  with  points  projecting  to  each  side,  the  stems  crossing 
like  the  letter  X.  If  laid  straight  along,  the  flowers  are 
huddled  together,  and  the  arrangement  seems  thick- 
backed  and  clumsy.  When  the  desired  length  is  attained 
the  ends  are  firmly  tied,  and  flowers  and  green  together 
are  pressed  round  on  the  wire,  and  by  this  means  turned 
to  face  as  required  ;  a  bow  of  white  silk  bonnet  string 
finishes  the  wreath.  Crosses  are  made  on  two  pieces  of 
thin  wood  ;  the  three  upper  points  being  made,  the 
cross-stick  is  then  tacked  and  tied  in  its  place,  the  center 
filled,  and  so  wound  to  the  bottom.  Like  wreaths,  these 
may  be  finished  with  or  without  a  bow  of  ribbon.  Wire 
frames  have  entirely  superseded  the  old  methods  of  wind- 
ing flowers  to  sticks  and  wires,  These  are  made  from 
half  to  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  depth — that  is  with 
raised  edges — and  painted  green,  the  breadth  varying  with 
the  circumference.  The  frame  gives  the  florist  at  once 
the  desired  form,  and  makes  it  easy  for  any  person  of 
taste  to  arrange  flowers  in  the  shape  of  an  anchor,  star, 
etc.,  etc.  The  frame  is  filled  with  damp  moss,  wound 
slightly  to  keep  it  in  place,  and  the  flowers,  stemmed  OD 
short  twigs,  are  inserted  in  the  moss. 

As  has  already  been  said,  this  chapter  was  written  in 
1868,  by  Mr.  Park,  who  had  the  rare  combination  of 
being  a  clear  and  terse  writer,  as  well  as  a  practical 
florist.  But  little  can  be  added  to  the  chapter,  the 
ground  has  been  gone  over  so  thoroughly,  except  to 
show  briefly  the  changes  in  style  that  have  taken  place. 


236  PBACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


Fig.  56.— DESIGNS   IN    STit\w 


INI)    \\il.l.ow    FOK    FI.OUAL   WUKK. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  BOUQUETS,   ETC.  337 

The  fashion  in  flowers  and  the  mode  of  constructing 
designs  now  varies  considerably,  and  I  will  endeavor  to 
state  wherein  that  difference  now  mainly  exists.  Since 
the  rage  for  Koses  began  a  dozen  years  ago,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  nine-tenths  of  the  whole  bulk  of  flowers  used  are 
Roses.  These  are  largely  used  in  making  up  bouquets, 
baskets,  and  all  kinds  of  floral  ornaments  for  the  table, 
and  in  a  majority  these  are  made  exclusively  of  Roses  ; 
while  corsage  bouquets  (little  else  is  used  in  winter)  often 
contain  as  many  as  two  dozen  Roses  of  one  color.  At 
present  in  the  fall  and  early  winter  months  the  Chrys- 
anthemums are  perhaps  used  to  a  greater  extent  than 
any  other  flower.  In  the  months  of  November  and 
December  nearly  every  other  well  dressed  lady  to  be  met 
with  on  the  fashionable  streets  of  New  York,  is  found 
wearing  a  corsage  bouquet  of  Chrysanthemums,  and 
from  their  great  range  of  color,  almost  every  shade  of 
dress  can  be  matched  except  blue. 

All  Roses  now  are  used  with  long  stems  ;  in  fact  since 
the  use  of  loose  bunches  of  flowers  tuts  come  in  vogue, 
replacing  to  a  great  extent  the  formal  bouquets  and 
baskets,  flowers  of  nearly  all  kinds  that  can  be  cut  with 
long  stems  are  so  gathered.  One  of  the  present  fashions 
of  using  flowers  for  decorating  rooms  is  to  select  colors 
of  flowers  to  match  the  furniture  ;  thus  if  the  furniture 
is  pink,  the  flowers  used  are  as  far  as  possible  of  that 
color ;  if  of  orange  or  yellow,  flowers  of  yellowish  tints  are 
used  ;  if  of  crimson,  the  flowers  as  near  to  that  color  as 
possible  are  employed,  and  so  on. 

A  beautiful  style  of  wreath  for  funeral  work  is  formed 
from  the  pressed  leaves  of  the  Imperial  Silver-tree  (Leu- 
codendron  argenteum),  which  many  of  the  enterprising 
florists  are  now  importing.  The  leaves  when  pressed  and 
dried  glisten  like  silver,  and  form  a  most  graceful  circlet 
or  wreath.  There  have  been  some  attempts  made,  I 
believe,  to  grow  the  plant  here,  but  as  its  leaves  are  valu- 


238 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


Fig.  57.— DESIGNS  IN  WILLOW  ANf>  WUU£  FOU  JXOKAL  WORK. 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   BOUQUETS,    ETC.  239 

able  only  when  pressed  and  dried,  it  seems,  if  it  is  to 
come  into  general  use,  the  cheaper  way  would  be  to  still 
import  the  leaves  in  that  state  from  Italy,  where  it  is 
hardy  enough  to  stand  in  the  open  air.  The  leaves  of 
the  Sago  Palm,  Cycas  revoluta,  are  used  largely  for 
funeral  work  in  all  large  cities,  when  they  can  be  obtained. 
Designs  of  every  imaginable  description  are  now  made 
of  flowers — shields,  rainbows,  canopies  (under  which  the 
marriage  ceremony  is  performed),  etc.  Mr.  Wm.  C. 
AVilson,  the  well  known  florist  of  New  York,  informed 
me  that  he  has  received  $600  for  the  floral  canopy  sup- 
plied for  the  marriage  of  the  daughter  of  one  of  New 
York's  best  known  citizens,  and  the  flowers  used  in  the 
decoration  of  rooms  in  all  footed  up  $5,000.  These  are 
rare  occasions,  however,  though  $500  and  $1,000  are  not 
unusual.  The  flowers  for  the  balls  of  the  Americus  Club 
of  New  York  in  Tweed's  palmy  days  often  cost  $6,000  for 
a  single  night. 

DESIGNS    IN    STRAW,    WILLOW    AND    WIBE    FOR    FLORAL 
WORK. 

Most  elaborate  and  beautiful  designs  for  floral  work 
are  offered  in  straw,  willow,  and  wire.  Figures  56  and 
57  show  a  few  of  the  designs  at  present  most  in  use,  but 
new  designs  are  being  now  offered  each  season,  so  that  to 
keep  pace  with  everything  brought  out,  reference  must 
be  had  to  the  catalogues  of  those  making  a  business  of 
sudi  work. 

Directions  have  already  been  given  how  to  fill  the 
wire  designs  in  the  preceding  pages  ;  the  same  will 
apply,  with  slight  modifications  that  will  be  suggested  to 
the  operator  while  constructing,  in  the  straw  and  willow 


240  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    XLIV. 
HANGING  BASKETS. 

It  is  only  of  late  years  that  the  taste  for  hanging 
baskets  has  become  so  universal.  The  taste  has  extended 
to  every  town  and  hamlet  throughout  the  land.  The 
baskets  are  made  either  of  wire-work,  earthenware,  or 
of  rough  and  gnarled  roots  or  limbs,  to  form  "rustic" 
work.  The  wire  and  rustic  baskets  are  the  kinds  in 
most  general  use. 

Only  certain  kinds  of  plants  are  suitable  for  hanging 
baskets  ;  such  as  are  of  low  compact  growth  to  cover  the 
surface,  and  such  as  are  of  drooping  or  trailing  habit,  to 
hang  over  the  sides.  For  a  basket  of  one  foot  in  diameter 
we  name  the  following  as  suitable  : 

For  center  plants,  either  Dracena  terminalis,  D. 
draco,  D.  indivisa  or  the  "  Screw  Pine  "  Pandanus 
ut  His. 

Coleus  Verschaffeltii,  well-known  bronze  foliage  plant. 

(Johns  Golden  Gem,  clear  yellow  foliage  plant. 

Coleus  Firebrand. 

Centaurea  Candida,  a  plant  with  white,  downy  leaves, 
of  compact  growth. 

Geranium,  semi-double  scarlet,  or  semi-double  rose. 

Seduvi  Sieboldii,  a  plant  with  light  glaucous  leaves 
and  graceful  habit,  which  is  not  only  desirable  on 
account  of  its  foliage  alone,  but  for  its  purplish  rose 
colored  flowers.  « 

These  are  suitable  for  the  upper  surface  of  the 
basket.  Those  proper  to  plant  near  the  edge  of  the 
basket  are : 

Lobelia  Erinus  Paxtoni,  blue,  drooping  eighteen 
inches. 

Tropceolum,  Ball  of  Fire,  dazzling  scarlet,  drooping 
two  feet. 


HANGING   BASKETS.  241 

Lysimachia  nummularia,  bright  yellow,  drooping 
two  feet. 

Linaria  cymbalaria,  small  flowers,  graceful  foliage, 
drooping  three  feet. 

For  a  basket  of  two  feet  in  diameter  the  below-named 
make  a  fine  display.  For  the  center  plants  the  same  as 
for  the  smaller  basket  : 

Geranium,  Mrs.  Pollock,  foliage  crimson,  yellow  and 
green  ;  flowers,  bright  scarlet. 

Alyssum  dentatum  variegatum,  foliage,  green  and 
white,  with  fragrant  flowers  of  pure  white. 

Alternanthera  paronychioides  major,  leaves  of  pink 
and  crimson. 

Pyrethrum,  Golden  Feather,  fern-like  foliage,  golden 
yellow. 

For  the  drooping  plants  the  following,  which  fall  from 
two  to  three  feet. 

Maurandia  Barclayana,  white  or  purple  flowers. 

Vinca  elegantissimi  aurea,  foliage  deep  green,  netted 
with  golden  yellow  ;  flowers  deep  blue. 

Cerastium  tomentosum,  foliage  downy  white ;  flowers 
white. 

Convolvulus  Mauritanicus,  flowers  light  blue,  profuse. 

Solanum  jasminoides  variegatum,  foliage  variegated  ; 
flowers  white,  with  yellow  anthers. 

Geranium  peltatum  elegans,  a  variety  of  the  Ivy-leaved, 
with  rich,  glossy  foliage,  and  beautiful  mauve-colored 
flowers. 

Panicum  variegatum,  a  procumbent  grass  from  New 
Caledonia,  of  graceful  habit  of  growth,  with  beautiful 
variegated  foliage,  striped  white,  carmine,  and  green. 
One  of  the  most  valuable  plants  for  baskets  or  vases. 

Although  a  few  plants  have  been  named  as  being 
suitable  for  hanging  baskets,  there  is  nothing  arbitrary 
about  using  particular  kinds  ;  it  is  a  matter  of  taste  in  a 
great  measure  as  to  what  kinds  are  used,  though  as  a 


242  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

rule,  it  is  best  to  use  some  graceful  plant  for  the  center, 
such  as  those  already  named. 

In  setting  the  plants  in  the  hanging  baskets,  a  layer 
of  moss  at  least  one  inch  in  depth  should  be  spread  over 
the  bottom  and  sides,  so  that  the  water  may  be  held  and 
prevented  from  washing  through. 

A  very  good  plan  to  water  hanging  baskets  where 
there  are  many  of  them,  is  to  dip  the  whole  basket  in 
water  until  it  is  thoroughly  soaked  ;  thus  drenched  it  will 
stand  quite  as  long  as  when  watered  in  the  usual  way. 

To  have  the  plants  bloom  freely,  they  should  tie  hung 
where  they  will  be  exposed  to  the  sun  at  least  two  or 
three  hours  each  day,  and  in  dry  weather  copiously 
watered  daily.  If  the  surface  of  the  basket  between  the 
plants  is  covered  with  moss,  it  will  prevent  the  earth  from 
drying  out  so  soon,  and  will  give  a  neater  appearance  to 
the  basket*  The  soil  used  to  plant  in  may  be  that  suit- 
able for  potting  ordinary  plants,  as  described  under  the 
head  of  soils 


CHAPTER    XLV. 
PARLOR  OR  WINDOW  GARDENING. 

To  be  successful  in  growing  plants  in  the  window  of 
the  parlor  or  sitting-room,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
begin  with  plants  that  are  in  a  healthy  state. 

Experienced  florists,  with  all  their  appliances  for  suc- 
cessful culture,  often  fail  to  bring  health  to  a  sickly 
subject.  How,  then,  can  amateurs,  without  experience, 
hope  to  recuperate  the  weakened  energies  of  some  petted 
plant  in  the  less  congenial  atmosphere  of  an  ordinary 
dwelling-house  ?  I  well  know  the  usual  practice  of  our 
lady  friends  in  this  matter.  In  purchasing  their  supply 


PARLOR  OR  WINDOW   GARDENING.  243 

of  bedding  plants  from  the  florist  in  May,  all  are  taken 
from  the  pots  and  planted  in  flower  beds,  to  decorate  the 
borders  for  the  summer  months.  By  the  first  appear- 
ance of  frost  in  October,  the  plants  of  Bouvardias,  Car- 
nations, Fuchsias,  Geraniums,  Heliotropes,  Roses,  etc., 
etc.,  that  were  such  tiny  slips  when  planted  out  in  May, 
are  now,  many  of  them,  large  plants,  and  in  all  their 
glory  of  bloom  ;  but  Jack  Frost  shall  not  have  them, 
they  must  be  saved.  Pots  are  sent  for,  soil  of  the  most 
approved  brand  is  procured  from  some  florist  high  in  the 
art,  the  plants  are  lifted  up  with  all  care  and  placed  in 
the  pots.  Our  amateur  friend  is  in  raptures  ;  as  yet 
they  look  just  as  green  and  flourishing  as  when  growing 
in  the  garden.  But  a  day  passes,  and  although  they 
have  been  shaded  and  watered  with  all  care,  the  plants 
somehow  begin  to  show  symptoms  of  collapse.  The 
Geranium  leaves,  that  looked  so  green  and  well,  are  now 
flabby.  The  Rose-buds,  that  held  up  their  heads  with 
such  pride,  now  look  abashed  and  hang  down. 

This  state  of  affairs  continues  ;  from  the  leaves  being 
simply  wilted  they  begin  to  get  yellow  and  shrivel  up  ; 
by  ten  days  many  of  the  plants  have  died  outright,  and 
the  remainder  are  in  a  sad  looking  condition,  that  is  dis- 
heartening to  the  owner. 

No  other  result  than  this  will  ever  be  obtained  with 
plants  treated  in  this  manner.  When  florists  wish  to  lift 
plants  of  this  nature  in  fall,  two-thirds  of  the  shoots 
are  usually  cut  off,  and  the  plants  put  through  a  course 
of  treatment  to  induce  them  to  strike  new  roots,  that  is 
hardly  ever  in  the  power  of  the  amateur  to  apply  ;  but 
even  though  we  succeed  in  saving  the  plants,  it  is  almost 
always  at  the  expense  of  the  bloom,  for  few  plants  can 
be  lifted  in  bloom  in  October  from  the  open  ground,  and 
continue  to  blossom  through  the  winter.  Now,  having 
pointed  out  the  errors,  I  will  show  the  way  to  succeed  in 
obtaining  healthy  plants  that  will  grow  and  bloom  freely 


244  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

in  winter,  provided  they  are  supplied  with  the  necessary 
moisture  and  heat.  All  plants  that  are  intended  for 
house  plants  in  winter,  when  set  out  in  May,  should  be 
first  planted  in  pots  six  or  seven  inches  in  diameter. 
These  pots  should  be  planted,  or,  as  we  term  it, 
" plunged"  to  the  rim,  or  level  with  the  surface  ;  thus 
they  are  almost  in  the  same  condition  as  if  they  had  been 
planted  without  the  pot,  only  the  roots  are  confined 
inside  of  the  pot,  so  that  when  the  plant  is  lifted  in  fall 
there  is  no  mutilation  of  the  roots,  as  must  always  be  the 
case  when  the  plant  is  put  in  the  open  ground  without 
the  pot,  as  then  the  roots  ramify  in  all  directions.  One 
caution,  however,  is  necessary :  the  hole  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pot  must  be  effectually  stopped  up  so  that  the 
roots  cannot  strike  through,  or  the  pot  should  be  turned 
two  or  three  times  during  the  summer,  so  as  to  break  off 
the  roots  as  they  strike  through  the  bottom.  If  this  is 
not  done,  nearly  the  same  difficulty  will  be  experienced 
as  if  they  had  not  been  puc  in  the  pots.  But  if  proper 
attention  has  been  given  to  this,  plants  of  every  descrip- 
tion that  are  suitable  for  winter  will  be  in  a  fine  state  by 
the  time  of  taking  up — in  this  district,  the  1st  of  Octo- 
ber, as  by  this  time  there  is  danger  of  frost. 

The  following  list  comprises  those  plants  most  suit- 
able for  window  culture,  and  such  as  are  most  easily 
managed  and  least  expensive. 

Abutilons, 

Calla  (Richardia), 

Carnations — monthly  sorts, 

Cyclamens, 

Chryanthemums, 

Chinese  Primroses, 

Fuchsias, 

Hyacinths  and  other  Bulbs  (See  Bulb  Culture), 

Geraniums,  Variegated,  Zonale,  Scented  and  Ivy- 
leaved. 


PARLOR  OR  W1NPOW   GARDENING.  245 

Heliotropes, 

Mahernias, 

Pelargoniums, 

Roses — Tea,  Bourbon,  and  Bengal, 

Solanums, 

Stevias, 

Camellias,  Azaleas,  etc.,  etc. 

All  of  these  will  flower  and  grow  freely  in  a  green- 
house temperature,  or  at  an  average  of  not  more  than 
fifty  degrees  at  night,  with  fifteen  or  twenty  degrees 
higher  during  the  day. 

We  add  another  limited  list  of  plants  requiring  a  high- 
er temperature,   some  of  them  being  in  other  respects 
more  difficult  of  culture,  besides  being  more  expensive  : 
Allamandas,  Begonias, 

Bouvardias  of  all  sorts,         Euphorbias, 
Coleus  of  all  sorts,  Poinsettias, 

Stephanotis,  Ruellia  formosa, 

Salvias,  etc.,  etc. 

All  of  the  above  will  luxuriate  best  in  a  humid  atmos- 
phere, at  an  average  of  not  less  than  sixty  degrees  at 
night,  with  fifteen  or  twenty  degrees  higher  during  the 
day.  The  best  aspect  for  growing  plants  from  October 
to  April  is  due  south.  For  the  intermediate  season  east 
is  preferable.  Watering  is  a  very  important  operation, 
but  a  little  experience  with  plants,  and  ordinary  care  in 
observing  will  soon  show  when  this  is  required.  A  good 
deal  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  plant  ;  if  in 
vigorous  growth  there  is  but  little  danger  of  giving  it  too 
much.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  plant  lias  been  cut 
back  or  lost  its  leaves,  water  should  be  given  sparingly. 
For  example,  you  may  take  a  vigorous  growing  apple  or 
pear  tree,  and  saw  off  its  limbs  to  the  trunk  in  mid- 
summer ;  if  its  roots  are  kept  saturated  with  moisture  it 
will  die,  but  if  kept  dry  it  will  shortly  again  develop 
branches  and  leaves.  This  example  teaches  us  a  lesson 


246  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

in  more  artificial  culture,  that  in  proportion  to  the  vigor 
of  the  subject  should  its  food  be  supplied.  The  practice 
of  placing  the  pots  in  saucers  filled  with  water  is  destruc- 
tive to  the  health  of  most  plants,  as,  of  course,  so  long  as 
the  water  remains  in  the  saucers,  the  soil  is  absorbing  it 
and  the  roots  of  the  plant  are  saturated  ;  it  is  well 
enough  to  use  the  saucers  to  prevent  the  soil  from  wash- 
ing through,  but  the  water  should  be  applied  at  the  sur- 
face of  the  pot,  and  what  little  will  pass  through  into 
the  saucer  will  do  no  harm.  Another  source  of  annoy- 
ance to  those  growing  plants  in  rooms  is  the  various 
insects  that  attack  them.  The  most  common  and 
injurious  of  these  is  the  Aphis  or  Green-fly.  In  our  green- 
houses we  keep  this  little  pest  in  check  by  continued 
fumigation  with  tobacco,  but  as  this  would  not  be  prac- 
ticable in  rooms,  recourse  must  be  had  to  immersing  the 
plant  in  tobacco  water,  made  of  a  strength  having  about 
the  color  of  strong  tea.  By  dipping  the  plant  in  this 
once  in  two  weeks,  or,  when  the  plants  are  large,  syring- 
ing them  with  it,  Aphides  will  never  be  seen.  The  Red 
Spider  and  thrips  are  not  so  easily  got  rid  of,  but  fortu- 
nately they  are  not  so  common  or  injurious,  unless  in  a 
very  high  temperature  and  dry  atmosphere.  The  only 
way  of  arresting  them  is  syringing  or  immersing  as  for 
Green-fly.  For  more  particulars  see  chapter  on  Insects. 
There  are  no  special  soils  necessary  for  the  amateur  to 
trouble  himself  about  in  cultivating  parlor  flowers.  For 
our  opinions  on  this  head  see  chapter  on  soils.  Neither 
should  he  tamper  with  guano  or  other  fertilizers  ;  equal- 
ization of  temperature  and  moisture  will  secure  the  end 
desired. 

WINDOW-GARDENING    IN    LONDON — COTTAGE   GARDENS. 

One  of  the  most  refreshing  sights  to  an  American 
arriving  in  London  during  the  summer  months  is  the 
wonderful  diversity  and  beauty  of  the  flowers  cultivated 


PARLOR  AND  WINDOW  GARDENING.  247 

in  the  windows  and  balconies  of  the  houses.  In  some  of 
the  best  streets,  hardly  a  house  can  be  seen  that  is  not  so 
adorned,  and  even  the  most  squalid  abodes  of  vice  and 
poverty  are  often  relieved  by  a  miniature  flower-garden  on 
the  window-sill.  The  most  common  style  is  the  window- 
box,  made  to  fit  the  window,  usually  from  four  to  five 
feet  long,  and  about  six  to  eight  inches  wide  and  deep. 
It  is  made  of  every  conceivable  pattern,  of  terra-cctta, 
cork,  and  rustic  design  in  endless  variety.  The  plants 
used  are  not  very  numerous  in  variety,  being  selected  of 
kinds  suited  to  keep  in  bloom  or  to  sustain  their  bright- 
ness of  foliage.  Now  and  then  the  ribbon-line  planting 
is  adopted  on  the  balconies ;  a  very  handsome  box  in 
this  style  had  first  a  row  of  Moneywort  (Lysimachia 
nummularia),  which  formed  a  drooping  curtain  of  four 
feet  in  length  ;  half-way  down  on  it  drooped  blue  Lo- 
belia ;  then  upon  the  Lobelia  fell  a  bright  yellow  Sedum 
(Stone-crop),  then  against  the  Sedum,  for  the  top-line  or 
background,  a  dwarf  Zonale  Geranium,  a  perfect  blaze 
of  scarlet.  Hardly  two  of  these  window  decorations  were 
alike  in  the  best  streets,  and  varied  from  a  simple  box  of 
Mignonette  or  Sweet  Alyssum  to  cases  filled  with  the 
rarest  Ferns  or  Orchids.  The  effect  as  a  whole  is  most 
pleasing,  and  one  that  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  most 
indifferent  observer  as  an  agreeable  change  from  the 
seemingly  never  ending  brick  and  stone  of  the  city.  The 
window-gardening  is  not  confined  to  private  dwellings, 
but  all  the  leading  hotels  are  so  decorated.  In  the  dining- 
room  of  the  Langham  Hotel,  a  favorite  resort  of 
Americans,  some  hundreds  of  well-grown  specimens  of 
plants  are  placed  in  the  windows,  and  kept  in  perfect 
order  during  the  entire  summer.  The  selection  of  plants 
is  made  regardless  of  expense,  and  in  looking  around  the 
dining-hall  it  is  with  some  difficulty  that  you  decide  if 
you  are  not  dining  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  conservatory, 
so  redolent  is  the  air  with  the  perfume  of  flowers.  The 


248  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

same  taste  for  window-gardening  is  displayed,  more  or 
less,  in  all  the  English  towns  and  villages,  and  even  the 
humblest  thatched  cottage  of  the  peasant  by  the  wayside 
is  given  a  look  of  quiet  happiness  by  the  bower  of  flowers 
in  the  window.  How  different  the  look  of  those  humble 
homes,  where  the  occupant  is  receiving  barely  four  dollars 
per  week,  from  the  squalid  shanties  in  the  suburbs  of  our 
great  cities  in  America,  where  the  "  naturalized  " 
American  citizen  is  often  earning  three  times  that 
amount !  Grand  effects  may  be  produced  in  our  climate 
by  the  use  of  climbing  vines  as  window  plants,  which  can 
be  trained  outside  in  summer  on  wire  or  strings.  Nota- 
ble among  these  are  :  Cobcea  scandens,  Ipom(Ba  noctilu- 
ca,  or  Moon-flower,  Maurandias,  purple  and  white,  and 
Lophospermums  ;  for  inside,  the  Climbing  Fern,  Smilax, 
or  Climbing  Asparagus. 

Here  let  me  deviate  from  my  text,  but  to  a  kindred 
subject,  and  tell  how  the  English  cottager  works  his 
garden  in  some  of  the  old  towns,  such  as  Colchester. 
To  each  cottage,  renting  for  about  fifty  dollars  per  year, 
is  attached  a  garden  of  something  more  than  an  eighth 
part  of  an  acre  in  extent.  In  this  little  spot  the  tenant 
contrives  to  grow  four  to  six  kinds  of  vegetables,  such  as 
potatoes,  cabbages,  peas,  turnips,  etc.,  and  of  fruits, 
gooseberries,  currants,  raspberries,  and  strawberries. 
Every  foot  is  made  to  produce  something,  and  rarely  a 
weed  was  seen  in  some  scores  that  we  saw  ranged  side  by 
side.  The  heavy  work  is  done  by  the  man  of  the  house, 
"  before  or  after  hours,"  in  his  own  time.  In  the  weed- 
ing and  hoeing  he  is  assisted  by  wife  or  children.  There 
is  great  rivalry  among  the  different  owners  of  these 
cottage  gardens,  and  in  many  places  liberal  prizes  are 
given  by  the  horticultural  societies  to  those  that  are 
best  cultivated. 

Prizes  are  also  offered  for  the  best  window-grown 
plants,  and  in  Hull  and  some  other  towns,  plants  are 


PARLOR  AND  WINDOW  GARDENING.  249 

distributed  gratis  and  printed  instructions  given  for  cul- 
ture, to  encourage  the  taste. 

There  may  be,  however,  a  reason  for  the  neglect  of 
their  gardens  by  the  mechanics  and  laboring  classes  here. 
There  is  no  question  that  at  the  time  when  the  bulk  of 
the  work  should  be  done,  in  the  hot  summer  weather, 
the  laborer  has  greater  need  of  rest  here  after  his 
day's  work  is  over  than  in  the  cooler  climate  of  Eng- 
land ;  moreover,  there  is  longer  daylight  in  England  in 
summer,  all  of  which,  together  with  greater  necessity  for 
thrift,  may  be  the  reasons  why  the  English  cottager's 
garden  is  so  much  superior  to  that  of  the  same  class 
in  the  United  States. 

WARDIAN   CASES,    FERNERIES,    ETC. 

The  Wardian  Case  is  usually  made  with  black  walnut 
base  lined  with  zinc,  in  depth  about  six  inches,  and  about 
two  feet  square  on  the  sides  ;  but  it  is  made  of  various 
sizes.  The  covering  is  a  glass  case,  made  usually 
eighteen  inches  high  ;  the  top  or  lid,  also  of  glass,  is 
made  movable,  so  that  ventilation  is  provided,  and 
undue  moisture  allowed  to  escape.  The  plants  grown  in 
Wardian  cases  are  such  as  are  selected  for  their  beauty  of 
foliage  rather  than  for  their  flowers,  plants  whose 
natural  habitat  is  shady  woods  ;  such  as  Ferns,  Lycopo- 
diums,  Dracenas,  Caladiums,  Marantas,  etc.,  etc.  The 
soil  used  in  such  a  case  may  be  light  peat  or  leaf-mould  ; 
nothing  of  a  stiff  or  heavy  nature  of  soil  should  be 
used.  The  case  may  be  kept  in  any  ordinary  sitting- 
room,  near  the  window,  but  not  exposed  to  the  direct 
sunlight.  There  is  no  trouble  whatever  in  management ; 
one  moderate  watering  when  the  case  is  filled  will  keep 
it  without  further  attention  for  six  weeks,  except  an 
occasional  ventilation  when  moisture  lies  heavy  on  the 
glass.  In  winter  the  temperature  of  the  room  may  run 
from  fifty  to  sixty  degrees  at  night.  The  culture  of 


250  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Ferns  or  Lycopods  requires  somewhat  similar  conditions 
as  are  found  in  the  Wardian  case  when  not  grown  in  it  ; 
they  cannot  be  successfully  grown  unless  in  partial  shade 
in  a  close,  moist  atmosphere.  Hence  it  is  useless  to 
attempt  the  cultivation  of  such  in  the  dry  atmosphere 
of  an  ordinary  sitting-room,  unless  they  are  enclosed  in 
cases.  The  florist  can  easily  adapt  his  greenhouse  to  the 
proper  conditions  when  required,  but  the  amateur  must 
secure  these  by  means  of  a  closed  case  of  some  kind. 
For  single  specimens  or  a  few  ferns  and  the  like,  a  glass 
shade  with  a  proper  base  of  metal  or  earthenware  is  fre- 
quently used,  and  is  very  ornamental.  Ferneries  of  this 
kind  are  sold  at  the  principal  horticultural  and  seed 
stores. 


CHAPTER     XL  VI. 

FORMATION  OF  ROCK- WORK,  AND  PLANTS  FOR 
ROCKS. 

This  feature  of  pleasure  ground  decoration  is  generally 
necessitated  by  circumstances  ;  if  the  ground  which  has 
to  be  chosen  for  that  purpose  is  naturally  stony,  it  often 
becomes  the  cheapest  way  to  get  rid  of  the  stones,  group- 
ing them  so  that  they  become  ornamental.  They  may 
often  thus  be  used  to  advantage  in  forming  breaks  or 
screens,  to  hide  the  flower  garden  from  the  vegetable  or 
fruit  garden  ;  in  this  way  they  are  laid  up  in  rugged 
walls,  the  interstices  filled  with  soil  and  covered  with 
hardy  perennial  plants.  Locations  where  rocks  exist  in 
their  natural  condition  can  often  be  made  highly 
interesting  and  ornamental  by  setting  out  plants  of  a 
climbing  habit  to  run  up  them,  or  a  drooping  or  trailing 
habit  to  overhang  them.  Among  those  suitable  for  the 


FORMATION   OF   ROCK-WORK.  251 

purpose  of  climbing  are  the  now  popular  species  of  Vir- 
ginia creepers,  Ampelopsis  quinquefolia,  A.  Veitchii, 
and  A.  RoyalUi.  The  latter  two  are  particularly  valu- 
able for  climbing  on  rocks,  and  are  now  becoming  much 
used  by  the  principal  railroad  companies,  not  only  to 
ornament  but  to  ''lace  up  "  shaley  rocks  through  which 
cuts  are  made.  We  sold  a  few  years  ago,  to  one  of  our 
leading  railroad  companies  in  one  season  five  thousand 
plants  of  Ampelopsis  Veitchii,  which  now  in  many 
places  have  attained  a  height  of  thirty  feet,  giving 
to  slipping  rocks  not  only  great  support,  but  covering 
them  with  glittering  green  leaves  in  the  summer  and 
tinting  them  in  autumn  with  crimson  and  gold. 

For  drooping  and  the  general  covering  of  rocks  the 
following  list  will  be  found  useful : 

Achilleas,  of  creeping  growth,  Sempervivums,  of  all  kinds, 

Campanulas,  of  creeping  growth,  Linnaea  borealis, 

Crucianella  stylosa,  Lychnis  grandiflora, 

Cerastium  tomentosum,  Lysimachia  nummularia, 

Phloxes,  of  creeping  growth,  Orobus  vernus, 

Polemonium  reptans,  Soldanella  alpina, 

Saxifragas,  Vinca  major  variegata, 

Sedums,  of  all  kinds,  Thymus  vulgaris  variegata, 
Violas  of  sorts. 

All  these  are  hardy. 

Artificial  rock-works  are  often  formed  thus  :  The  shape 
aud  dimensions  of  the  work  being  determined  on,  the 
clinkers  from  furnaces  are  collected,  and  dipped  in  hot 
lime  wash,  which  gives  a  coloring  of  pure  white  to  their 
fantastic  shapes.  With  these  the  "rock- work"  mound 
is  formed  of  the  height  and  shape  desired,  leaving  at 
suitable  distances  cavities  of  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  to 
be  filled  with  soil  in  which  to  place  the  creeping  plants. 
For  this  kind  of  rock-work  a  different  class  of  plants  is 
more  appropriate, — such  as  are  of  bright  colors  and  will 
contrast  with  the  ground  work  of  white.  Scarlet  or 
other  high-colored  Verbenas,  Coleus,  Gazanias,  Scarlet 


252  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Geraniums,  Blue  Lobelias,  Lysimachia,  or  Golden  Money- 
wort, may  be  used  with  excellent  effect.  By  the  use  of 
hydraulic  cement  instead  of  lime,  the  rock-work  can  be 
made  of  a  pleasing  drab  color.  A  rockery  so  formed  and 
planted,  without  having  any  pretensions  to  being  "  nat- 
ural," is  always  an  interesting  and  attractive  object  on  a 
well-kept  lawn. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 
ABE  PLANTS  INJURIOUS  TO  HEALTH? 

Even  yet,  with  all  the  light  of  experience  on  the  sub- 
ject, if  physicians  are  asked  if  plants  kept  in  rooms  are  in- 
jurious to  health,  three  out  of  six  will  reply  that  they  are. 

They  will  generally  follow  up  the  reply  by  a  learned 
disquisition  on  horticultural  chemistry  ;  will  tell  you  that 
at  night  plants  give  out  carbonic  acid,  which  is  poisonous 
to  animal  life,  and  consequently  if  we  sleep  in  a  room 
where  plants  are  kept,  we  of  necessity  inhale  this  gas, 
and  sickness  will  follow.  These  worthies  generally  suc- 
ceed in  their  specious  reasoning,  and  the  poor  plants, 
that  have  bloomed  gaily  all  summer,  are  often  consigned 
to  the  coal  cellar  for  their  winter's  quarters,  if  given 
quarters  at  all.  No  theory  can  be  more  destitute  of 
truth  ;  that  plants  give  out  carbonic  acid  may  be,  but 
that  it  is  given  out  in  quantities  sufficient  to  affect  our 
health  in  the  slightest  degree  is  utter  nonsense. 

No  healthier  class  of  men  can  be  found  than  green- 
house operators,  which  makes  me  sometimes  think  that 
plants  have  a  health-giving  effect  rather  than  otherwise. 
But  doctors  may  tell  us  that  our  workmen  are  only  at 


ABE   PLANTS   INJURIOUS   TO   HEALTH  ?  253 

work  in  the  day-time,  and  that  it  is  at  night  that  the 
carbonic  acid  is  emitted.  Here  we  meet  them  by  the 
information  that  in  most  cases  the  gardener  in  charge  of 
greenhouses  often  has  to  be  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  in  winter,  and  the  greenhouse  from  its  warmth, 
is  universally  taken  as  his  sitting-room,  and  sometimes 
as  his  bed-room  ;  such  was  my  own  experience  for  three 
winters.  I  had  charge  of  a  large  amount  of  glass, 
situated  nearly  a  mile  from  my  boarding-house,  too  far 
to  go  and  come  at  midnight,  with  the  thermometer 
below  zero.  Our  means  of  heating  were  entirely  inade- 
quate, so  that  the  fires  had  to  be  looked  to  every  three 
or  four  hours.  Disregarding  all  my  kind-hearted  em- 
ployer's admonitions,  I  nightly  slept  on  the  floor  of  the 
hot-house,  which  was  rank  with  tropical  growth.  The 
floor  was  just  the  place  to  inhale  the  gas,  if  there  had 
been  much  to  inhale.  It  did  not  hurt  me,  however,  and 
has  not  yet,  and  that  is  now  nearly  forty  years  ago. 
That  plants  are  injurious  to  health  in  sleeping  rooms  is 
one  of  the  bugbear  assertions  that  is  willingly  swallowed 
by  the  gullible  portion  of  the  community,  always  ready  to 
assign  effects  to  some  tangible  cause,  and  this,  as  the  asser- 
tion evinces  some  chemical  lore,  is  very  prevalent  among 
those  disciples  of  Esculapius  who  are  always  willing  to  be 
thought  learned  in  the  science  so  intimately  connected 
with  their  profession. 


254  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    XLVIII. 
THE  INJURY  TO  PLANTS  BY  FORCING. 

Under  the  head  of  Carnations  I  referred  to  a  disease 
which  was  very  destructive  among  many  of  the  older 
varieties  of  monthly  Carnations,  or  Pinks,  which  we 
have  been  forcing  for  the  last  twenty  years.  I  assumed 
that  the  trouble  was  in  consequence  of  this  excessive 
forcing,  which  had  so  lessened  the  vitality  of  the  plants, 
that  disease  followed  whenever  the  conditions  were 
slightly  unfavorable,  such  as  too  wet  or  too  dry  a,  soil. 
Since  then,  our  observations  have  shown  that  nearly  all 
the  varieties  of  Roses  in  use  for  forcing  for  winter  flowers 
are  similarly  affected.  About  the  first  oi.  May  one 
season  I  planted  out  in  the  open  ground  yofnj?  plants, 
that  had  been  propagated  in  January,  of  Safrano, 
Bon  Silene,  Douglas,  Marechal  Niel,  and  foui  other 
varieties,  which  had  been  used  for  forcing  during 
the  winter.  At  the  same  time  we  planted  out  young 
plants  made  from  cuttings  of  over  thirty  varieties 
of  other  Tea  Roses,  that  had  been  grown  during  winter 
in  a  cold  house,  without  being  forced.  The  plants  of 
both  lots  were  all  seemingly  in  a  fine  healthy  condition: 
but  about  July  1st,  we  found  that  the  forced  varieties 
had  not  only  made  a  much  weaker  growth  than  the 
others,  but  probably  twenty  per  cent,  died  outright.  la 
a  conversation  on  this  subject  with  Mr.  Miller,  the  welJ- 
known  florist  and  landscape  gardener  of  German  town, 
Pa.,  he  cited  the  case  of  a  nurseryman  in  England,  who 
sent  out  the  Dahlia,  "  Beauty  of  Hastings";  the  first  year 
it  was  exhibited  from  the  seedling  plant,  it  was  found  to 
be  so  entirely  double,  as  to  have  what  is  known  as  a 
"hard  center."  It  has  been  freely  exhibited,  and  being 
the  finest  of  its  class  at  that  time,  orders  for  hundreds 


THE   INJURY  TO   PLANTS   BY   FORCING.  265 

of  plants  were  consequently  received  for  it.  To  obtain 
the  plants  to  fill  the  orders  from  the  limited  stock,  it 
was  forced  in  a  temperature  unusually  high  ;  other  cut- 
tings were  taken  from  the  cuttings  already  struck,  so 
that  a  dozen  roots  were  made  to  produce  nearly  3,000 
plants.  When  these  plants  came  into  flower,  instead  of 
producing  the  fine  form  and  double  variety  that  had 
been  exhibited,  nearly  all  produced  semi-double  flowers. 
This  brought  a  storm  on  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  nur- 
seryman, who  was  charged  with  sending  out  a  spurious 
variety,  and  he  had  not  only  to  refund  the  money  which 
he  had  received  for  the  plants,  but  was  seriously  injured 
in  his  business  standing.  That  semi-double  flowers  were 
produced  in  consequence  of  lessened  vitality,  was  shown 
by  the  fact  that  these  self-same  roots  produced  in  the 
succeeding  year  and  afterwards,  double  flowers  like  the 
original,  and  for  many  years  the  "  Beauty  of  Hastings" 
was  known  as  a  standard  sort.  Again,  we  remember 
that  in  the  day  of  the  grape-vine  fever,  the  "Delaware," 
and  some  other  varieties,  by  being  propagated  in  a  high 
temperature  and  from  the  young  shoots  year  after  year, 
became  so  weakened,  as  to  hardly  be  recognized  as  the 
original  variety.  Plants  ot  Rhubarb,  after  they  have 
been  forced,  are  usually  thrown  away  as  useless,  and 
Hyacinths,  Tulips,  Lily  of  the  Valley,  and  nearly  all 
other  roots  and  bulb?,  usad  in  forcing  take  years  to  recu- 
perate in  the  open  ground  after  they  have  been  once 
made  to  bloom  in  the  hot-house.  This  is  so  well  known 
among  florists,  that  nearly  all  throw  away  the  bulbs  that 
have  been  forced  in  winter.  If  we  consider  that  this 
treatment  of  the  natives  of  temperate  latitudes  is  in 
direct  violation  of  their  natural  condition,  we  will  not 
wonder  that  they  rebel  against  the  abuse.  Carnations, 
Roses,  Grapes,  and  bulbs  of  nearly  all  kinds,  are  hardy, 
or  nearly  so,  in  northern  latitudes,  and  their  nature 
requires  a  rest  of  three  or  four  months.  Our  forcing 


256  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

system,  now  so  universally  adopted  to  produce  the 
flowers  of  the  Carnation  and  Rose  in  winter,  subject 
them  to  a  treatment  similar  to  that  proper  for  tropical 
plants  ;  and  this  continued  violation  of  their  natural 
requirements  of  culture,  results  in  the  evil  alluded  to.  I 
never  like  to  refer  to  any  disease  or  other  trouble  among 
plants,  without  being  able  to  suggest  a  remedy.  In  the 
Carnation  we  would  advise  that,  instead  of  propagat- 
ing them  as  usual  from  cuttings  made  in  spring,  from 
plants  that  have  been  forced  all  winter,  that  cuttings 
be  taken  at  the  time  plants  are  lifted  in  fall  ;  after  they 
are  rooted,  the  young  plants  may  be  kept  in  a  cold 
green-house  or  frame  during  winter.  The  same  plan 
might  be  adopted  with  the  Roses  forced  in  winter,  if  the 
plants  are  wanted  for  summer  flowering  in  the  open 
ground.  I  know  it  is  not  always  convenient  to  do  so, 
but  when  it  is,  I  think  it  will  be  found  a  good  method  to 
maintain  the  vitality  of  the  stock.  This  is  now  our  own 
method  and  our  stock  both  of  Roses  and  Carnations  have 
been  much  benefited  since  we  adopted  it. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 
NATUEE'S   LAW  OF  COLORS. 

It  has  long  been  a  belief  among  students  in  vegetable 
physiology,  that,  in  certain  families  of  plants,  particular 
colors  prevail,  and  that  in  no  single  instance  can  we  ever 
expect  to  see  blue,  yellow,  and  scarlet  colors  in  varieties 
of  the  same  species  ;  yet,  undeviating  as  this  law  seems 
to  be,  it  is  astonishing  to  see  the  credulity  that  there  is, 
even  among  intelligent  horticulturists,  some  of  whom 
believe  that  we  will  yet  have  exceptions  to  this  law, 
which,  as  far  as  all  our  experience  has  gone,  seems  as  m»- 


NATURE  S   LAW   OF   COLORS.  257 

alterable  as  the  law  of  gravitation.  If  we  reflect,  we  will 
find  there  is  nothing  out  of  the  usual  order  of  nature  in 
this  uniformity.  The  coloring  given  to  the  plumage  of 
birds  is  as  unalterable  as  that  given  to  the  petals  of  a 
flower  in  particular  families.  The  most  enthusiastic 
poultry  fancier  will  look  in  vain  for  the  scarlet  plumage 
of  the  Flamingo  in  his  Dorkings  or  Brahmas,  or  the 
color  of  the  Baltimore  Oriole  in  the  occupants  of  his 
pigeon-house.  What  more  reason,  then,  has  the  florist 
to  expect  that  Nature  should  deviate  from  her  fixed 
course,  and  gladden  his  eye  with  a  Rose  or  Dahlia  of  an 
azure  hue,  or  that  a  Verbena  or  a  Petunia  should  be  pro- 
duced of  a  golden  shade  ? 

A  knowledge  of  this  subject  is  much  needed  by  our 
amateur  horticulturists,  who  are  imposed  upon  year 
after  year  by  itinerant  dealers,  who  with  flaming  colored 
drawings  of  these  impossibilities  in  floriculture  extract 
largely  from  the  pockets  of  their  victims,  and  in  addition 
expose  them  to  the  ridicule  of  their  less  credulous  or 
more  cautious  neighbors.  The  audacity  of  these  scamps 
is  truly  astonishing ;  not  a  season  passes  but  some  of 
them  have  the  impudence  to  plant  themselves  right  in 
the  business  centres  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
hundreds  of  our  sharp  business  men  have  for  the  con- 
sideration of  four  or  five  dollars,  believed  themselves  in 
the  possession  of  veritable  blue  Roses.  Need  I  say  that 
they  were  no  less  humbugged  than  the  rustic  who  falls 
into  the  hands  of  a  mock  auctioneer,  and  chuckles  to 
think  that  he  has  become  the  possessor  of  a  gold  watch 
for  a  similar  price  ? 

In  Rand's  "  Flowers  for  the  Parlor  and  Garden,"  page 
101,  in  remarking  on  the  colors  of  the  Verbena,  he  says 
a  good  yellow  Verbena  has  not  yet  been  produced,  but 
goes  on  to  say  that  he,  "by  a  curious  process  of  watering 
and  fertilization  with  a  white  Verbena,  obtained  a  seed- 
ling which  proved  on  blooming  to  be  of  a  light  straw  color; 


258  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTUKE. 

but  the  plant  was  weakly  and  sickly,  and  died  before 
cuttings  could  be  taken. "  This  "  weakly  "  and  "  sickly  " 
condition  was  exactly  why  Mr.  Rand  obtained  his  straw 
color ;  had  the  plant  been  in  health  it,  no  doubt,  would 
have  been  only  an  impure  white. 

There  are  few  florists  of  any  experience  who  have  not 
raised  hundreds  of  just  such  "  straw  colors  "  in  Verbenas 
from  white,  that  have  been  iveak  and  sickly,  for  we  all 
know  that  the  want  of  vitality  in  the  plant  imparts  a 
jaundiced  hue  to  white  flowers. 

It  is  hardly  fair  in  Mr.  Rand  to  withhold  from  us  what 
that  "  curious  process  of  watering  and  fertilization"  was, 
by  which  he  succeeded  in  bringing  into  existence  what 
De  Candolle,  Lindley,  and  London,  have  said  can  never 
be.  When  a  man  writes  a  book  for  the  information  of 
the  public,  nothing  should  be  held  in  reserve;  his  readers 
have  a  right  to  every  "  secret"  he  may  possess  connected 
with  the  subject,  and  this  reservation  of  Mr.  Rand  in  so 
very  interesting  a  matter  is  tantalizing  in  the  extreme. 
Who  knows  but  if  he  had  given  us  the  modus  operandi 
of  his  "  curious  process  of  watering  and  fertilization  " 
our  Verbena  beds  would  have  long  since  had  a  golden 
yellow  flaunting  side  by  side  with  scarlet  and  blue,  or 
that  the  same  "  curious  process  of  watering  and  fertiliza- 
tion "  applied  to  the  Rose,  would  have  produced  a  color 
rivalling  a  blue-bird  in  April  ? 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Rand's  yellow  Ver- 
bena was  lost,  but  we  trust  that  the  "  curious  process  " 
by  which  it  was  produced  is  not  among  the  lost  arts. 
If  an  application  of  it  can  be  made  to  produce  a  positively 
yellow  Verbena,  the  gentleman  will  receive  the  honors  of 
the  whole  horticultural  world,  and,  if  he  chooses,  can 
pocket  some  thousands  of  dollars. 

Not  only  are  blue,  yellow  and  scarlet  colors  never  found 
in  varieties  of  the  same  species,  but  so  far  even  pure 
yellow  or  pure  scarlet  is  never  found,  nor  ever  likely  to  be 


WHAT  FLOWERS   WILL  GBOW   Itf   THE   SHADE  ?     259 

found  in  certain  families  of  plants.  For  example, 
although  we  have  grand  crimson  shades  in  the  Rose, 
there  is  yet  no  approach  to  scarlet  as  seen  in  Salvia 
splendens  (Scarlet  Sage),  nor  any  yellow  in  the  Geranium 
at  all  approaching  to  the  yellow  of  the  yellow  Calceolaria. 
But  there  are  yet  some  of  our  best  florists,  who  watch, 
year  after  year,  the  seedlings  they  raise;  with  the  hope — 
vain  I  much  doubt — that  their  eyes  will  be  regaled  with 
the  vision  of  a  scarlet  Rose  or  a  yellow  Geranium.  The 
alchemists  of  old,  in  their  endeavors  to  turn  the  baser 
metals  into  gold,  by  their  experiments  greatly  benefited 
the  science  of  chemistry.  So  do  these  sanguine  florists 
benefit  horticulture  by  producing  improved  varieties, 
though  they  are  likely  never  to  attain  the  object  of  their 
solicitude. 


CHAPTER    L. 
WHAT  FLOWERS  WILL  GROW  IN  THE  SHADE  ? 

The  question  "What  flowers  will  grow  in  the  shade  ?" 
is  put  to  me  every  spring  by  scores  of  city  people,  whose 
little  patch  which  they  wish  to  devote  to  flowers  is  so 
walled  up  by  neighboring  houses,  that  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun  never  touch  it.  But  few  plants  will  develop 
their  flowers  there,  and  none  will  do  it  so  well  as  if  it  were 
lighted  up  by  sunshine  a  part  of  the  day.  Fuchsias, 
Pansies,  Forget-me-nots,  Violets,  Lobelias,  Lily-of-the- 
Valley,  Hollyhocks,  Phloxes,  and  other  herbaceous  plants 
whose  native  habitat  is  a  shady  wood,  will  do  best,  but 
even  these  languish  if  denied  all  direct  sunlight.  The 
best  effect  in  such  situations  is  produced  by  ornamental- 
leaved  plants,  the  beauty  of  which  is  not  dependent 


260  PRACTICAL    FLORICULTURE. 

upon  their  flowers.  Among  these  may  be  ranked  the 
Gold  and  Silver  Variegated-leaved  Geraniums,  Achyran- 
thes,  Alternantheras,  Begonias,  Caladiums,  Centaureas, 
Coleuses,  etc.,  which,  if  planted  so  as  to  bring  the 
various  shades  in  contrast,  produce  a  pleasing  effect, 
which  continues  during  the  entire  summer  months,  and 
is  not  surpassed  by  any  display  of  flowers. 

The  cultivators  of  flowers  in  rooms  should  understand 
the  necessity  of  sunlight  to  plants  that  are  to  flower,  and 
endeavor  to  get  these  as  close  as  possible  to  a  window 
having  an  eastern  or  southern  aspect.  The  higher  the 
temperature  the  more  plants  suffer  from  want  of  light. 
Many  plants  might  remain  semi-dormant,  in  a  temper- 
ature of  forty  degrees,  in  a  cellar  for  example,  away 
from  direct  light,  for  months,  without  material  injury, 
while  if  the  cellar  contained  a  furnace  keeping  a  temper- 
ature of  seventy  degrees,  they  would  all  die  ;  such  would 
particularly  be  the  case  with  plants  of  a  half-hardy 
nature,  such  as  monthly  Roses,  Carnations,  Fuchsias, 
Geraniums,  etc. 

In  our  greenhouse  culture  of  flowers,  direct  sunlight 
is  an  all-important  consideration  ;  and  a  spell  of  sunless 
weather  in  midwinter  is  often  a  loss  to  us  of  hundreds  of 
dollars  by  preventing  the  development  of  flowers.  Hence, 
we  use  every  means  at  command  to  dispose  the  plants  to 
secure  the  greatest  amount  of  light. 

The  debilitating  effects  of  want  of  direct  light  on 
plants  are  well  illustrated  by  taking  a  vigorous  plant  in 
full  foliage  and  flower,  that  has  been  growing  in  the 
direct  light  of  our  greenhouse  benches,  and  placing  it 
under  the  bench.  If  the  temperature  is  high,  say  seventy 
degrees,  in  forty-eight  hours,  the  sickly  signs,  showing 
want  of  light,  will  be  apparent  to  an  experienced  eye  ;  in 
a  week  its  condition  would  be  such  as  to  indicate  sick- 
ness to  the  most  common  observer,  and  in  a  month  it 
would  most  likely  be  dead. 


WHAT   FLOWERS  WILL  ftROW   IK  fHE  SHADE  ?     261 

In  this  respect  there  is  some  analogy  between  plant 
and  animal  life,  and  it  teaches  us  the  importance  of  light 
for  our  own  healthy  development.  Certain  it  is  that  our 
greenhouse  and  garden  operatives  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  any  other  class  of  workmen,  so  far  as  health  is 
concerned.  In  the  past  thirty  years  I  have  had  an  aver- 
age of  fifty  workmen  daily.  During  that  time  but  three 
have  died,  and  six  only  have  been  seriously  sick,  and 
some  three  or  four  veterans  who  are  growing  grey  in  the 
service,  have  never  lost  an  hour  by  sickness.  I  doubt  if 
it  would  be  easy  to  find  the  same  number  of  workmen 
employed  out  of  the  sunlight,  who  could  show  such 
health  as  these  sun-browned  boys  of  ours. 


CHAPTER    LI. 
SUCCESSION  CROPS  IN  THE  GREENHOUSE. 

Whether  the  Florist's  business  is  carried  on  in  a  small 
way  or  on  the  most  extensive  scale,  to  make  it  profitable 
it  is  essential  to  have  the  green-house  benches  filled  as 
often  as  practicable  with  succession  crops;  simply  taking 
one  crop  off  the  benches  will  result  at  the  present  rate  of 
prices  in  very  meagre  profits  indeed.  In  my  own  prac- 
tice, we  have  for  many  years  taken  never  less  than  two 
crops  off  of  every  foot  of  bench  space,  and  in  many  of 
our  houses  three,  and  in  some  particular  families  of  plants 
such  as  Coleus,  Verbenas  and  Heliotropes,  as  many  as 
six  crops  are  taken  off  of  every  foot  of  space. 

To  get  more  than  two  crops  one  must  have  an  order 
business,  which  runs  over  five  or  six  months  of  the  sea- 
son, but  even  a  florist  who  has  only  a  local  retail  plant 
trade  or  the  open  market  to  sell  in  should  always  be  able 
to  use  every  foot  of  his  green-house  space  twice.  In 
most  towns  the  sales  of  plants  whether  in  market  or 


262  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

locally,  begin  in  April  and  extend  to  June,  a  period  ot 
eight  or  ten  weeks.  As  soon  as  the  greenhouse  space 
gets  emptied  towards  the  end  of  April  or  first  weeka 
in  May,  succession  crops  from  seedlings  or  cuttings 
should  be  on  hand  to  be  potted  and  shifted  on  so  that 
the  green-house  benches  may  be  as  full  by  the  middle  or 
end  of  May,  as  they  were  in  the  middle  of  April,  so  that 
the  season  may  be  lengthened  with  salable  stock  to  the 
middle  of  June.  Of  course  to  do  this  extra  labor  must 
be  had  at  the  proper  time.  This  is  not  always  to  be  ob- 
tained at  the  time  needed,  but  it  is  always  profitable  to 
pay  employees  for  over  time  at  that  busy  season  of  the 
year.  Every  season  from  April  to  June,  we  have  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  of  our  best  men  working  by  lamp-light 
until  ten  or  eleven  o'clock,  which  is  equal  to  adding  seven 
or  eight  effective  hands  to  our  force,  which  could  not  be 
procured  at  the  busy  season  of  the  year.  Our  men  al- 
ways go  at  such  work  willingly,  as  every  hour  they  work 
after  six  o'clock  is  paid  for  as  over  time,  which  any  firm 
well  established  in  business  on  a  paying  basis  can  well  af- 
ford and  should  do,  but  beginners  with  only  two  or  three 
men, — struggling  to  make  ends  meet — may  reasonably  ex- 
pect to  have  their  hands  help  them  in  emergency  without 
extra  pay  for  over  time,  particularly  if  they  are  men  who 
are  kept  throughout  the  entire  year.  Where  the  florist  be 
ginning  has  only  his  own  hands  to  rely  on,  if  he  wants  to 
make  the  business  a  success,  he  had  better  make  up  his 
mind  to  "  burn  the  midnight  oil  "  for  at  least  three  or 
four  months  in  the  spring.  For  the  first  fifteen  years  I 
was  in  business,  I  think  it  safe  to  say  that  either  in  the 
office,  green-house  or  grounds,  1  averaged  sixteen  hours 
per  day  throughout  the  entire  year.  Such  work  will 
never  hurt  a  healthy  man,  because  it  is  certain  to  bring 
success  if  judiciously  employed,  and  success,  other  things 
being  equal,  we  all  know  conduces  to  happiness  and  health 
in  a  far  greater  degree  than  its  opposite. 


PACKING   PLANTS.  263 

CHAPTER     LII. 

PACKING  PLANTS. 

As  commercial  floriculture  is  now  becoming  a  matter  of 
importance,  it  will  be  interesting  for  many  to  know  the 
modes  of  packing  for  shipment.  During  February, March, 
April,  and  May  last  (1887),  it  is  estimated  that  twenty 
tons  each  day  were  received  at  the  different  express  offices 
in  New  York,  of  the  products  of  the  greenhouse  only. 
These  were  to  be  distributed  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  shipments  being  now  successfully 
made  in  all  weather  to  the  most  extreme  points  in  every 
direction.  The  system  of  packing  adopted  for  even  the 
most  distant  orders  is  of  the  simplest  kind,  differing  en- 
tirely from  that  of  the  English  or  French,  and  is  a  result, 
like  many  other  of  our  operations,  of  the  necessities  forced 
upon  us  by  the  higher  price  of  labor.  By  the  system  of 
packing  in  our  own  establishment,  we  ship  plants  every 
day  from  January  15th  to  June  loth,  throughout  the  cold- 
est weather  in  winter,  and  the  sultry  days  of  summer,  with 
hardly  a  case  of  injury,  either  from  freezing  or  by  heat. 
For  the  cold  season  we  use  close  boxes,  lining  top,  bottom 
and  sides  with  thick  paper,  against  that,  as  the  best  non- 
conductor we  can  find,  we  put  two  inches  of  sawdust 
on  top,  bottom,  and  sides  of  the  box.  Whenever  the 
ball  of  roots  is  sufficiently  firm,  the  plant  is  taken  from 
the  pot,  and  each  plant  wrapped  in  paper,  or  rather  the 
ball  or  root  of  the  plant  is  wrapped,  leaving  most  of  the 
top  uncovered.  This  wrapping  in  paper  not  only  serves 
to  keep  the  ball  from  breaking,  but  it  also,  to  some  ex- 
tent, prevents  the  pressure  of  the  plants  upon  each 
other.  In  packing  the  plants  in  a  box,  they  are  placed 
compactly  in  layers,  alternated  with  an  inch  or  two  of 
soft  hay,  or  the  new  packing  material  ''Excelsior,"  until 
the  box  is  f  ulL  The  utmost  care  is  necessary  to  pack  the 


264  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

box  entirely  full,  so  that  no  movement  can  take  place  in 
the  plants  should  the  boxes  be  roughly  handled.  The 
soil  should  be  always  rather  dry  than  otherwise,  as 
packed  in  this  close  manner  the  plants  will  not  suffer  for 
want  of  moisture.  Boxes  of  medium  size  are  best;  we 
never  like  to  use  a  box  of  greater  capacity  than  the  or- 
dinary flour  barrel,  usually  preferring  such  as  are  one- 
third  smaller  than  that.  If  the  box  is  too  large,  the 
plants  may  be  injured  by  mutual  pressure. 

This  is  our  method  of  packing  as  long  as  there  is  dan- 
ger of  frost,  or  until  the  middle  of  March.  From  the 
middle  of  March  to  the  middle  of  April,  we  use  a  box  of 
a  different  character,  open  on  all  sides  to  admit  air,  for 
now  the  danger  to  be  avoided  is  from  heat  and  not  from 
cold.  The  manner  of  packing  is  in  all  other  respects  the 
same,  except  that  no  more  hay  or  "Excelsior,"  is  used 
around  the  inside  of  the  box  than  necessary  to  make  a 
soft  bed  for  the  plants.  If  the  closely  packed  plants 
have  any  tendency  to  generate  heat,  it  will  be  counter- 
acted by  the  admission  of  air  through  the  openings  in  the 
box.  Again,  we  gradually  make  a  change  in  our  style  of 
packing  to  suit  the  advancing  season.  For  small  orders,  a 
light  kind  of  chip  basket  is  used,  in  which  the  plants  are 
packed  in  the  manner  above  described,  and  strapped  over 
the  top  with  hay  or  "  Excelsior."  We  find  a  basket  a  most 
convenient  and  satisfactory  article  to  pack  in,  as  its  open- 
work sides  freely  admit  the  air.  In  baskets  weighing 
less  than  two  pounds,  we  pack  from  100  to  150  plants. 
Being  annoyed  at  having  frequently  to  pay  for  clumsy, 
heavy  packages,  in  which  our  new  importations  were  re- 
ceived from  England,  I  took  occasion  to  send  over  to  a 
London  nurseryman  some  fifty  plants  packed  in  one  of 
these  baskets,  the  whole  basket  and  contents  weighing 
about  15  Ibs.,  and  with  two  exceptions  every  plant  was 
received  alive.  I  implored  the  gentleman  to  pack  the 
plants  he  was  to  send  me  in  return  in  similar  light  baa- 


PLANTS  BY  MAIL.  2C5 

kets,  as  it  would  not  only  save  freight  but,  what  was  far 
mere  important,  save  me  the  plants  alive.  He  sent 
them  in  baskets,  sure  enough,  each  one  weighing  of  itself 
40  Ibs., — a  shapeless,  ponderous  affair,  that  with  its  con- 
tents required  two  men  to  lift  it  into  a  wagon.  This 
was  not  the  worst  of  it ;  three-fourths  of  the  plants  were 
dead — our  usual  experience  in  shipments  of  plants  from 
Europe.  This  loss  is,  without  doubt,  in  most  cases  oo 
casioned  by  the  cumbrous  manner  of  packing. 

When  the  weather  becomes  settled,  so  that  all  danger 
of  plants  being  chilled  is  over,  we  change  our  mode  of 
packing  the  plants,  from  laying  them  down,  to  standing 
them  upright  in  the  baskets  or  boxes,  beginning  with  the' 
heaviest  plants  at  the  bottom  of  the  box  or  basket,  and 
placing  each  succeeding  layer,  to  the  depth  of  three  or 
four,  one  ball  of  roots  on  the  top  of  the  other.  After 
packing,  the  box  or  basket  is  watered  freely,  each  plant, 
or  at  least  a  portion  of  it,  is  exposed  to  the  light,  and 
thus  packed  they  will  remain  ten  or  twelve  days  without 
injury. 


CHAPTEE    LIU. 
PLANTS  BY  MAIL. 

Our  postal  laws  permit  plants,  seeds,  and  bulbs,  to  be 
sent  at  a  cost  of  16  cents  per  pound,  provided  the  pack- 
age does  not  exceed  four  pounds  in  weight.  This  ar- 
rangement has  been  the  means  of  sending  seeds  and 
plants  into  regions  where  they  would  not  for  many  years 
have  been  procurable  with  other  means  of  conveyance, 
and  the  projector  of  the  idea  deserves  the  gratitude  of 
the  nation  for  it.  A  number  of  different  contrivances 
have  been  invented  for  packing  plants  to  go  by  mail,  in- 
cluding boxes  of  various  styles  and  dimensions  ;  the 
main  difficulty  with  all  that  we  have  seen  is  the  weight. 


266  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

Plants  may  be  packed  without  using  boxes  at  all  by  adopt- 
ing the  following  method.  Having  selected  the  plants, 
choosing  such  as  are  small  but  well  rooted,  the  soil  is 
washed  or  shaken  from  each  plant,  leaving  the  fibres  of 
the  roots  uninjured.  A  layer  of  moderately  damp  moss 
half  an  inch  thick  is  then  spread  on  two  or  three  thick- 
nesses of  thick  brown  paper  ;  the  plants  are  then  laid  on 
the  moss,  a  similar  layer  of  moss  is  laid  over  the  roots, 
and  the  paper,  moss,  and  plants,  are  tiglitly  rolled  up. 
The  moss  absorbs  the  water  from  the  dripping  roots,  so 
that  thus  tightly  enclosed,  sufficient  moisture  is  envelop- 
ed in  the  packages  to  keep  the  plants  safe  for  a  week, 
provided  that  the  package  has  been  firmly  wrapped  up. 
Another  wrapping  of  oil  silk  paper  follows — the  final 
wrapping  being  of  stiff  brown  paper.  This  process  is  so 
simple  that  any  lady  may  transmit  to  another  some  favor- 
ite plant  or  cutting,  a  distance  of  2,000  miles,  if  neces- 
sary, at  little  cost.  The  florists  who  make  a  special  busi- 
ness of  mailing  plants  now  use  a  box  specially  made  for 
the  purpose,  alternating  the  filling  of  the  box  with  thin 
layers  of  moss — not  too  damp — with  the  layers  of  plants. 
Where  moss  is  not  procurable,  raw  cotton  will  answer  the 
same  purpose;  the  only  danger  to  be  avoided  is  in  rolling 
up  the  package  too  loosely,  in  which  case  the  dry  air  will 
penetrate  and  will  be  likely  to  shrivel  up  the  plants. 

Although  it  is  a  great  convenience  to  be  able  to  send 
plants  by  mail  to  points  where  there  is  no  express  office, 
yet  we  most  emphatically  protest  against  sending  in  this 
way  wherever  they  can  be  sent  by  express.  Not  only  is 
sending  by  a  mail  a  slow  and  expensive  method  of  pack- 
ing, but  the  necessity  to  lighten  the  package,  compels 
the  soil  to  be  taken  from  the  roots  and  to  compress  the 
plants  in  the  package  so  that  they  are  often  crushed  to 
their  injury.  We,  in  our  business,  never  send  a  plant 
by  mail  where  it  can  be  sent  by  express,  unless  at  distinct 
request  of  the  buyer. 


INSECTS  AND   DISEASES  AFFECTING   PLANTS.       207 

CHAPTER    LIV. 
INSECTS  AND  DISEASES  AFFECTING  PLANTS. 

There  is  no  subject  referred  to  in  this  volume,  that  I 
feel  so  incompetent  to  discuss  as  that  of  insects.  Not 
that  our  experience  with  the  pests  has  not  been  ample 
enough,  but  all  the  knowledge  obtained  from  that  expe- 
rience leaves  us  at  times  utterly  helpless  to  prevent  their 
ravages,  particularly  on  plants  grown  out  of  doors.  Un- 
der glass,  we  may  say  that  they  are  entirely  under  control, 
and  I  have  always  considered  that  no  better  evidence  of 
the  incompetency  or  negligence  of  the  person  in  charge 
of  the  greenhouse  could  be  had,  than  to  see  the  plants 
covered  with  insects. 

The  most  annoying  of  all  insects  of  the  flower  garden, 
is  the 

Rose  Slug,  Selandria  rosce,  a  light  green,  translucent 
little  fellow,  varying  from  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  to 
nearly  an  inch  in  length.  There  are  evidently  two  species 
or  varieties,  one  of  which  confines  its  ravages  to  the  lower 
side  of  the  leaf;  the  other  eats  it  entire.  The  first  is  by 
far  the  most  destructive  here.  In  a  few  days  after  the 
plants  are  attacked  they  appear  as  if  they  had  been 
burned. 

The  best  remedy  we  have  found,  is  a  preventive  one, 
which,  in  fact,  ought  to  be  used  against  all  insect  life. 
Before  the  leaves  of  the  roses  appear,  just  as  soon  as  the 
buds  begin  to  develop,  apply  Whale-oil  Soap,  in  the  pro- 
portion of  one  pound  to  ten  gallons  of  water;  this, 
steadily  applied  for  ten  days,  with  a  syringe  or  garden 
engine,  has,  in  my  experience,  entirely  prevented  the  at- 
tacks of  the  insect.  But  once  let  it  get  a  foothold  and  it 
can  hardly  be  driven  off  by  this  application,  unless  it  bo 
made  strong  enough  to  injure  the  foliage,  making  the 


268  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

remedy  worse  than  the  disease.  A  safe  remedy  when  the 
insect  has  made  an  attack  on  the  leaves,  is  to  dust  pow- 
dered White  Hellebore  or  Pyrethrum  over  the  leaves  in  the 
morning,  when  the  dew  is  on;  or  if  no  dew,  first  wet  the 
leaves  by  syringing,  and  then  apply  the  powder.  The 
species  of  Rose  Slug  that  eats  the  entire  leaf  seems  to 
confine  its  depredations  more  to  young  plants,  and  later 
in  the  season.  We  have  found  it  quite  troublesome  in 
June  and  July  among  our  young  roses,  which  had  been 
planted  out  in  May  and  June,  and  as  these  were  young  and 
tender  plants,  the  Whale-oil  Soap  remedy  could  not  safely 
be  applied,  and  it  would  hardly  be  practicable  to  apply  the 
Pyrethrum  or  the  Hellebore;  so  we  have  often  had  acres 
of  young  roses  covered  by  myriads  of  these  slugs,  before 
they  were  observed,  and  nothing  could  be  done  except  to 
shake  the  plants,  and  kill  the  insects  when  they  fell  to  the 
ground.  In  the  summer  of  1866,  we  had  some  nine  or  ten 
boys  shaking  the  plants  and  killing  the  slugs  for  upwards 
of  a  week,  and  by  this  means  saved  our  crop  of  roses. 
In  1868  we  had  a  whole  army  of  volunteer  exterminators, 
in  the  thousands  of  English  Sparrows  that  had  been 
imported  some  years  previous,  and  which  we  yet  feed  and 
house  with  the  greatest  care  during  winter.  We  observed 
immense  flocks  of  them  actively  engaged  for  days  in  pick- 
ing up  something  in  our  rose  beds,  and  had  imagined  it 
to  be  seeds  obtained  from  the  refuse  hops,  that  we  had 
used  as  a  mulching.  At  times  we  felt  inclined  to  believe 
that  they  would  pick  the  tender  leaves  of  the  rose,  to  use 
by  way  of  a  salad,  having  always  believed  them  to  be 
strictly  "  vegetarians,"  or  seed  eaters.  Finding,  however, 
that  we  were  less  troubled  with  the  Rose  Sing  that  season 
than  usual,  it  occurred  to  me  that  perhaps  we  were  in- 
debted to  our  noisy,  feathered  friends  for  the  immunity. 
To  test  the  matter,  a  victim  was  necessary;  accordingly 
a  plethoric  looking  fellow  was  shot,  when,  sure  enough, 
his  well-stuffed  crop  revealed  seeds,  Rose  Slugs,  and 


INSECTS  AND   DISEASES   AFFECTING    PLANTS.       269 

Aphis,  or  Green  Fly,  in  great  abundance,  demonstrating 
beyond  all  question  the  great  value  of  these  birds  as  insect 
destroyers. 

The  Rose  Bug  (Macrodactylis  subspinosus),  or  Rose 
Chafer,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  so  named  from  its 
attacking  the  buds  or  blossoms  of  the  rose,  in  preference 
to  anything  else,  although  it  is  destructive  to  many  other 
plants,  particularly  to  the  Dahlia,  the  flower  of  which  it 
devours  rapidly.  All  the  ordinary  remedies  seem  to  fall 
harmlessly  on  the  Eose  Bug,  and  if  not  destroyed  by 
hand  its  ravages  cannot  be  stopped,  unless  our  feathered 
friends  come  to  the  rescue;  whether  they  will  be  equally 
efficacious  in  destroying  the  Rose  Bug,  I  am  unable  to 
say,  although  I  am  inclined  to  think  they  will.  We  have 
never  yet  been  much  troubled  with  them  here,  and  so  far 
have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  whether  the 
Sparrows  feed  on  them  or  not. 

The  Rose  Bug,  (Aramigus  Fullerii,}  the  larva  of  which 
is  so  destructive  to  the  roots  of  roses  grown  under  glass  in 
winter,  has  no  resemblance  whatever  to  either  the  Rose 
Slug  or  the  Rose  Chafer,  but  is  vastly  worse  than  either 
of  these  in  its  ravages.  The  perfect  insect  (that  is  not 
unlike  the  Curculio,  which  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  fruit 
of  the  Plum  tree)  does  little  injury  to  the  Roses,  merely 
biting  little  circular  pieces  out  of  edges  of  the  leaves,  but 
it  is  by  this  cutting  of  the  leaves  that  their  presence  is 
first  known,  as  the  insect,  though  larger  than  a  common 
house  fly,  is  not  easily  seen  from  its  habit  of  keeping 
under  the  leaves  or  close  to  the  stems  of  the  plant.  So 
far  all  efforts  to  destroy  this  pest  have  proved  futile,  ex- 
cept to  pick  off  the  fully  developed  bug  from  the  plants, 
and  so  prevent  it  depositing  its  eggs  at  the  roots  of  the 
Roses.  These  eggs  quickly  hatch  into  grubs,  resembling 
meat  maggots,  which  at  once  begin  to  feed  on  the  roots, 
and  thus  quickly  destroy  the  plants.  Once  a  rose  bed  gets 


270  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

badly  infested,  there  is  as  yet  no  known  remedy.  Noth- 
ing can  be  done  but  throw  the  plants  out  and  the  soil 
also,  if  Hoses  are  again  to  be  planted  in  the  same  house. 

The  first  time  I  saw  this  Rose  Bug  was  in  1872.  I  no- 
ticed that  our  Roses,  though  otherwise  healthy,  made  nr 
growth.  A  friend  coming  along  one  day,  who  had  sad 
experience  with  the  insect,  asked  me  to  allow  him  to  pull 
a  plant  up.  At  its  roots  hung  scores  of  the  maggots — the 
larva)  of  the  Rose  bug.  I  at  once  threw  out  the  whole — 
the  plants,  the  soil,  and  even  the  bench  itself,  though  the 
space  it  covered  was  ten  feet  by  three  hundred,  contain- 
ing nearly  three  thousand  Roses.  Fortunately  its  ravages 
were  confined  to  that  house,  so  I  at  once  adopted  the  plan 
of  paying  our  boys  a  dollar  a  hundred  for  what  bugs  they 
could  find,  working  at  their  dinner  hour.  This  soon  sub- 
dued them,  so  that  for  years  we  have  been  free  from  the 
Rose  bug,  the  greatest  pest  that  the  Rose  grower  has  to 
fight  against,  particularly  if  he  grows  his  Roses  on  the 
benches  for  two  years. 

The  Aphis  is  one  of  the  most  common  insects  affecting 
plants.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  kinds,  showing  dif- 
ferent colors,  on  different  plants.  Thus,  when  it  attacks 
the  roots  of  plants,  it  is  blue;  on  Roses  and  most  other 
plants  it  is  green;  on  the  chrysanthemum  and  a  few  other 
plants  it  is  black. 

Hundreds  of  my  amateur  friends  come  to  me  year  after 
year,  with  sorrowful  tales  of  their  verbenas,  asters,  etc., 
which  were  pictures  of  health  and  beauty,  but  now  are 
one  after  another  sickening  and  dying,  apparently  with- 
out cause.  But  there  was  a  cause,  and  in  most  cases  one 
cause  only.  The  Blue  Aphis  is  at  the  roots,  and  the  only 
chance  to  save  them  is  an  application  of  tobacco  water, 
about  the  color  of  strong  tea,  applied  copiously  and  per- 
sistently to  the  roots,  for  at  least  a  week. 

We  have  occasionally  saved  all  our  stock  by  this  remedy, 
when  used  at  once,  as  soon  as  they  were  seen  to  be  affected. 


INSECTS  AND   DJSUASES  AFFECTING    PLANTS.       271 

Many  species  of  plants  are  attacked  by  this  insect  at  the 
root.  Asters,  particularly,  are  much  injured  by  it.  In 
fact,  when  in  excess,  there  is  hardly  a  species  of  plant 
exempt  from  its  attacks.  We  have  often  seen  this  Aphis 
clustering  by  thousands  on  the  roots  of  melons,  cucum- 
bers, and  of  beets,  to  the  very  points  of  the  roots,  a  foot 
below  the  surface. 

The  Green  Fly  (or  Green  Aphis)  is  prevented,  (for  I 
contend  that  it  should  never  be  seen,  so  that  it  need  be 
destroyed),  by  fumigating  with  tobacco  smoke,  not  less 
than  twice  each  week.  We  do  it  in  a  manner  much  more 
simple  and  agreeable  to  the  operator  than  is  often  prac- 
ticed. Two  or  three  times  each  week  during  the  entire 
season  at  which  our  green-houses  are  filled  with  plants, 
we  use  a  small  handful  of  shavings,  on  top  of  which  we 
place  about  half  a  pound  of  tobacco  stems,  previously 
made  damp.  The  shavings  are  lighted,  and  the  fire  be- 
ing on  the  cement  flooring,  is  left  to  take  care  of  itself. 
If  the  floor,  however,  is  of  wood,  provision  should  be 
made  against  danger  from  fire.  We  use  this  quantity  of 
tobacco  to  every  five  hundred  square  feet  of  glass;  we 
burn  thus  five  or  six  tons  of  tobacco  stems  every  season, 
but  we  rarely  see  a  green  fly.  We  have  occasionally  seen 
this  insect  increase  to  such  an  extent  in  its  different  con- 
ditions, that  fumigation  was  powerless  to  destroy  it,  or 
rather  it  would  have  required  it  to  be  applied  so  strong, 
to  dislodge  the  vast  number  of  the  enemy,  that  the  plants 
would  have  been  injured.  The  safer  way  to  treat  a  des 
perate  case  of  this  kind  is  to  brush  the  insect  off  by  hand, 
or  with  a  soft  brush;  this  is  a  slow  process,  but  an  effec- 
tual one.  This  condition  of  the  plants  can  only  be  the 
result  of  utter  neglect.  The  green  fly  sometimes  injures 
plants  which  stand  too  near  together,  so  that  the  leaves 
get  matted  so  slosely  that  the  fumes  of  the  tobacco  can- 
not penetrate.  This  is  a  condition,  where  recourse  must 
be  had  to  brushing  the  insects  from  the  leaves,  and,  if 


272  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

possible,  spreading  the  plants  so  that  the  air  can  pass 
freely  among  them. 

All  Kose  growers  in  winter  now  find  that  the  best  way 
to  prevent  the  green  fly  is  to  strew  tobacco  stems  under 
the  benches  or  paths,  two  or  three  inches  thick,  renewing 
them  every  three  or  four  weeks.  Although  the  odor  is 
hardly  perceptible  from  the  tobacco,  yet  it  has  the  effect 
of  entirely  suppressing  the  Aphis.  Of  course,  this  plan 
would  be  equally  effectual  in  destroying  the  insect  on  all 
kinds  of  plants,  but  is  somewhat  more  expensive  than 
smoking,  and  the  reason  of  using  it  in  the  Rose  houses  is 
that  the  smoke  injures  the  buds. 

Another  method,  equally  effective  in  destroying  the 
Aphis,  is  to  syringe  the  plants  and  then  dust  them  over 
with  tobacco  dust.  Still  another,  is  to  steep  the  stems 
until  the  water  gets  to  be  of  the  color  of  strong  tea,  and 
syringe  it  on  the  plants.  These  last  two  remedies  are 
really  the  only  ones  that  can  be  applied  when  the 
Aphis  attacks  plants  out  of  doors,  either  method  is  effec- 
tive against  the  "black  Aphis,  which  attacks  the  chrysan- 
themum as  well  as  against  the  common  green  Aphis. 

The  Red  Spider  is  rather  a  more  insidious  enemy  than 
the  Green  Fly,  and  far  more  tenacious  of  life,  and  often 
does  much  mischief  before  its  presence  has  become  known. 
The  experienced  gardener,  of  course,  should  not  only  be 
able  to  detect  its  presence,  but  also  to  discover  the  at- 
mosphere favorable  to  its  production.  A  dry  and  hot 
atmosphere,  so  dry  that  few  plants  can  long  continue  in 
health  in  it,  is  such  as  this  pest  delights  to  revel  in.  Such 
an  atmosphere  in  hothouse  or  greenhouse  is  thus  doubly 
hurtful  to  plant  life,  and  therefore  should  never  be  al- 
lowed. The  remedies  are  simple;  if  there  is  not  time  for 
syringing,  let  water  be  thrown  copiously  on  the  paths, 
under  and  on  the  benches,  place  pans  filled  with  water  on 
the  flue  or  pipes,  or  use  any  other  means  that  may  sug- 
gest itself,  to  counteract  the  aridity  of  the  air,  due  to 


INSECTS   AND   DISEASES   AFFECTING    PLANTS.        273 

heavy  firing  in  winter,  or  hot,  dry  days  in  spring  or  sum- 
mer. Therefore,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Green  Fly,  if  proper 
preventives  are  used,  the  Ked  Spider  need  never  be  seen 
in  the  greenhouse. 

The  red  spider  is  an  exceedingly  minute  insect,  s? 
small  that  it  is  a  mere  speck  when  seen  by  the  naked  eye, 
but  when  closely  examined,  may  be  seen  moving  with 
great  rapidity.  Though  minute  in  themselves  the  pres- 
ence of  these  insects  may  be  quickly  detected,  by  the 
upper  side  of  the  leaves  becoming  browned,  though  the 
ravages  are  confined  to  the  under  side  of  the  leaf.  Par- 
lor plants  are  often  subject  to  this  insect,  as  it  is  not 
convenient  to  give  the  necessary  moisture,  and  the  only 
remedy  in  such  cases,  if  the  collection  is  not  too  numer- 
ous, is  sponging  the  leaves.  Florists  who  have  a  suf- 
ficient force  of  water,  have  but  little  trouble  with  the 
Red  Spider,  as  forcibly  applied  daily  it  quickly  destroys 
them.  In  the  absence  of  city  water,  the  force  pump  or 
hand  syringe  must  be  used. 

We  often  have  woeful  complaints  from  inexperienced 
cultivators,  that  their  plants  all  get  brown  and  look 
sickly,  and  it  requires  but  little  thinking  to  divine  what 
enemy  is  making  the  attack. 

The  aphis,  from  its  size,  is  quickly  seen,  and  means 
may  be  used  at  once  to  destroy  it,  but  this  minute  red 
pest  may  be  sapping  the  life  of  a  plant  for  weeks  before 
it  is  discovered.  Amateur  cultivators  generally  expect 
to  see  something  more  tangible  in  a  spider,  if  they  have 
heard  of  the  red  dragon  at  all.  and  are  often  hard  tc 
convince,  that  this  minute  insect  is  the  cause  of  so  much 
disaster. 

I  will  relate  a  rather  ludicrous  incident,  to  show  that 
some  even  of  larger  experience  may  become  possessed  of 
that  notion. 

Many  years  ago  I  had  in  my  employment  an  active 
young  Irishman,  who,  by  showing  more  than  ordinary 


274  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

energy,  quickly  passed  through  the  different  grades,  un- 
til he  was  duly  installed  as  foreman  ;  at  fv>at  time  we 
had  been  firing  a  Camellia  house,  and  by  ntgleet  of  keep- 
ing a  properly  moist  atmosphere,  the  red  spider  had  made 
sad  inroads.  John  was  duly  instructed  to  syringe  the 
plants,  night  and  morning,  to  destroy  it,  which  he  did  ; 
no  doubt  with  a  double  object  in  view,  as  the  sequel  will 
show.  John  was  on  all  occasions  rather  demonstrative, 
but  one  morning  he  came  rushing  towards  me,  his  face 
radiant  with  triumph,  with  his  hat  off,  but  clasped  in 
his  hands,  in  a  careful  manner,  evidently  having  some- 
thing of  no  common  value  within  it.  Before  I  had  time 
to  inquire  what  was  the  cause  of  his  excitement,  he 
yelled  out  "  I've  got  him!  bedad!  I've  got  him  at  last!" 
"  What  have  you  got, "  I  enquired,  expecting  to  see 
something  in  the  way  of  a  rat  or  mouse.  "  Arrah,  the 
big  devil  himself,  the  blaggard  that  has  been  doin'  us  all 
the  mischief,  the  Reed  Sphider  ! "  and  opening  his  hat,  a 
villainous  Tarantula-looking  fellow  ran  out,  bigger  than 
a  thousand  red  spiders,  which  was  quickly  despatched  by 
John's  brogan.  From  that  time  John  learned  to  know 
what  the  red  spider  was,  but  was  never  anxious  to  allude 
to  it  afterwards. 

The  Verbena  Mite,  the  minute  cause  of  the  "  black 
rust"  so  disastrous  in  its  ravages  on  the  Verbena,  Helio- 
trope, Petunia,  Pelargonium,  and  various  other  plants,  is 
so  small  that  it  cannot  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye  ;  but  its 
ravages  under  certain  conditions  are  so  disastrous  as  to 
render  the  cultivation  of  the  Verbena  and  some  similar 
plants  next  to  impossible. 

Viewed  by  a  powerful  microscope,  this  insect,  magni- 
fied 400  times,  appears  of  the  size  given  in  Fig.  58  ;  it 
moves  with  great  rapidity,  and  can  only  be  examined  as 
it  stops  to  feed.  When  this  little  pest  has  once  got  a 
foothold,  all  direct  remedies  to  dislodge  him  seem  to  be 
powerless;  the  fumes  of  tobacco,  so  destructive  to  the 


INSECTS   AND   DISEASES  AFFECTING   PLANTS.        275 

aphis,  or  of  sulphur,  which  is  death  to  the  spider,  fall 
harmlessly  on  this  microscopic  insect. 

There  is  hardly  a  doubt  but  that  the  fumes  of  sulphur 
or  tobacco  would  destroy  it,  if  it  had  not  the  power  of 
imbedding  itself  in  the  leaf.  This  is  evidently  the  case, 
as  on  subjecting  affected  plauts  to  a  severe  fumigation 
with  tobacco  for  thirty  minutes  no  insects  could  be  dis- 
cerned on  the  leaves  ;  but  after  a  short  time  they  again 
appeared  on  the  field  of  the  microscope,  apparently  un- 
scathed. We  also  find  that  an  excellent  preventive 
against  this  insect  is  to  syringe  the  plants  twice  a  week 
with  a  weak  solution  of  fir-tree  oil ;  one-half  pint  to 
five  gallons  of  water.  This  seems  like  tobacco  smoke  to 
check  it  somewhat,  yet  it  is  not  a  com- 
plete remedy  and  if  plants  are  severely  at- 
tacked, there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  throw 
those  affected  out — as  there  is  but  little 
doubt  that  it  quickly  spreads.  Now,  al- 
though we  have  no  direct  remedy  against 
this  insect,  which  produces  the  black  rust, 
we  have,  I  think,  a  preventive,  by  keeping 
the  plants  in  that  healthy  condition  which  seems  to  be 
repellant  to  its  attack.  For  the  means  used  to  get  that 
healthy  condition,  see  chapter  on  the  culture  of  the  Ver-. 
bena,  which  is,  with  slight  modifications,  equally  ap- 
plicable to  all  other  plants  affected  by  this  insect. 

The  microscope  reveals  that  this  particular  species, 
which  is  so  destructive  to  our  Verbena,  Heliotrope,  Petu- 
nia, and  scores  of  other  plants  cultivated  in  the  green- 
house or  garden,  is  the  same  or  one  that  closely  resembles 
that  which  gives  the  roughness  to  particular  parts  of  the 
cherry,  plum,  and  peach  trees,  and  no  doubt  is  to 
be  found  on  thousands  of  other  kinds  of  plants,  when- 
ever a  lessened  vitality  takes  place.  Corroborative  of 
this  view,  I  had  a  lot  of  about  500  plauts  of  Heliotrope 
growing  in  two-inch  pots  in  one  of  our  greenhouses  one 


276  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

year,  one-half  of  which  were,  in  September,  shifted  into 
three-inch  pots,  to  be  reserved  for  stock  plants.  They 
were  kept  side  by  side  and  treated  in  all  respects  the 
same.  Those  shifted,  of  course,  with  increased  food, 
grew  vigorously  and  strong,  while  the  unshifted  remained 
comparatively  stunted,  and  on  the  following  December 
1st,  the  "black  rust"  showed  itself  on  nearly  every  plant, 
and  the  microscope  revealed  on  every  affected  leaf  hun- 
dreds of  these  insects,  feeding  like  sheep  on  a  pasture 
field,  while  on  the  shifted  plants  none  whatever  were 
found.  This  is  only  one  of  hundreds  of  cases  which 
yearly  come  under  our  observation,  to  prove  that,  from 
whatever  cause  the  vital  action  of  a  plant  is  impaired, 
it  is  placed  in  the  condition  which  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree invites  the  attack  of  parasitic  fungi  (mildew)  or  in- 
sects. 

Mealy  Bug,  as  it  is  familiarly  termed,  is  a  white,  mealy 
or  downy-looking  insect,  belonging  to  the  same  family, 
from  which  the  cochineal  of  commerce  is  obtained.  It 
is  an  insect  of  the  tropics,  and  is  troublesome  only  among 
hot  house  plants,  or  such  as  are  grown  at  a  high  temper- 
ature. Fortunately  we  have  now  a  complete  antidote 
against  the  ravages  of  the  Mealy  Bug  by  the  use  of  fir-tree 
oil,  mixed  at  the  rate  of  one  pint  to  five  gallons  of  water, 
and  syringed  over  the  plants  once  a  week.  In  fact  the 
use  of  fir-tree  oil,  mixed  and  applied  as  above,  has  kept 
our  greenhouses  almost  free  from  Mealy  Bug  and  nearly 
all  other  insects,  since  we  began  using  it  in  1884.  The 
great  point,  however,  is  its  steady  application,  it  being 
applied  weekly.  The  proportions  above  given  we  find 
best  for  Dracenas,  Crotons,  etc.,  but  for  tender  Roses, 
Verbenas,  etc.,  in  delicate  growth  half  a  pint  to  five  gal- 
lons of  water  is  as  strong  as  it  can  be  applied  with 
safety. 

Brown  and  White  Scale  Insects. — These  are  less  inju- 
rious and  less  common  to  plants  than  any  of  the  preced- 


INSECTS  AND   DISEASES  AFFECTING  PLANTS.       277 

ing,  and  are  generally  found  in  dark  or  ill-ventilated 
greenhouses,  adhering  to  the  stems  and  under  part  of  the 
leaves  of  hard-wooded  plants.  The  best  remedy  is  fir-tree 
oil,  used  as  described  for  Mealy  Bug. 

Thrips  is  an  active  insect,  varying  in  size  from  that 
hardly  perceptible  by  the  naked  eye,  to  the  size  of  the 
Green  Fly,  and  varying  in  color  from  whitish-yellow  to 
dark  brown;  it  is  a  jumping  insect,  very  active  in  its 
movements,  and  when  it  once  gets  a  foothold  is  very  de- 
structive. It  succumbs  to  tobacco  smoke,  but  not  so 
quickly  as  does  the  Green  Fly.  It  luxuriates  in  shaded 
situations,  and  is  generally  found  where  plants  are  stand- 
ing too  thickly  together,  or  where  the  ventilation  or  light 
of  the  greenhouse  has  been  deficient.  I  think  it  may  be 
safe  to  assert  that  in  any  well-regulated  greenhouse  or 
hot-house  no  injury  from  insects  will  ever  become  serious, 
if  proper  attention  to  syringing  and  fumigating  has  been 
given.  Syringing,  or  other  means  of  keeping  a  moist  at- 
mosphere, must  never  be  neglected  for  a  day,  and  fumi- 
gating by  tobacco  smoke  should  be  done,  at  the  least, 
once  each  week.  The  application  of  fir-tree  oil  will  also 
quickly  check  Thrips  or  Aphis. 

The  "  Carnation  Twitter."— This  is  an  insect  fortu- 
nately but  little  known,  and  called  in  this  district  only 
by  its  local  name  of  "  Carnation  Twitter, "given  from  its 
rapid  and  nervous  motion.  As  seen  by  the  naked  eye  it 
is  about  the  twentieth  part  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  of  a 
thickness  not  more  than  that  of  a  cambric  needle.  It  is 
of  various  shades  of  color,  from  green  to  black;  it  is  never 
very  numerous  on  the  plants,  but  most  destructive  and 
evidently  poisonous  in  its  attacks  on  all  varieties  of  the 
Carnation  and  Pinks. 

Its  effects  on  the  Carnation  somewhat  resemble  those 
of  the  Eed  Spider,  except  that  when  attacked  by  the 
"Twitter,"  the  leaves  have  a  cankered  and  twisted  ap- 


278  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

pearance,  easily  distinguishable  from  the  browning  effects 
of  the  Spider.  When  Carnations  or  Pinks  get  infested  by 
this  insect,  all  remedies  to  dislodge  it  seem  futile.  We 
have  lost  thousands  of  plants  in  a  season  by  its  attacks. 
It  seems,  however,  to  infest  light  or  sandy  soil  more  than 
heavy  loam  or  clay,  and  seems,  also,  to  be  intermittent 
in  its  attacks,  often  not  being  seen  for  three  or  four  years 
in  succession,  and  again  returning  and  destroying  all  in 
its  path.  In  our  light  sandy  soil  at  lower  Jersey  City  we 
suffered  from  it,  but  for  fifteen  years,  in  our  heavy,  clayey 
soil  on  Jersey  City  Heights,  it  has  rarely  been  seen.  It 
generally  attacks  the  plants  in  the  open  ground.  We 
have  not  had  it  since  we  began  the  use  of  the  fir-tree  oil, 
and  so  have  as  yet  had  no  opportunity  to  try  it,  but  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  might  be  equally  useful  here,  as  it 
is  against  all  other  insects. 

Slugs  or  Snails. — These  are  troublesome  both  in  the 
open  ground  and  in  the  greenhouse.  Salt  is  certain  death 
to  them,  even  in  smallest  quantities,  and  when  in  the 
open  garden,  a  slight  sprinkling  of  salt  over  the  ground 
is  effectual;  but  the  sprinkling,  it  must  be  remembered, 
must  be  very  slight,  as  salt,  if  put  on  (even  as  thick  as 
sand  is  usually  strewn  on  a  floor)  will  kill  almost  any  kind 
of  vegetation.  In  our  greenhouses  the  snails  usually  feed 
at  night,  getting  under  the  benches  during  the  day.  We 
have  found  a  most  effectual  remedy  in  strewing  a  thin 
line  of  salt  on  edge  of  each  bench; — this  makes  a  complete 
"dead  line"  for  the  Slugs  or  Snails,  for  they  cannot 
cross  it  and  live.  Another  plan  is  to  slice  up  potatoes, 
carrots,  cabbage,  or  lettuce  leaves,  to  feed  on,  for  which 
they  will  leave  all  other  plants.  Examine  these  traps 
daily,  and  destroy  the  captives. 

Ants  are  the  most  troublesome  of  all  insect  pests  on 
lawns  on  sandy  soils,  and  when  these  are  on  such  large 
areas,  any  remedy  as  yet  known  is  almost  futile  to  destroy 


INSECTS  AND    DISEASES   AFFECTING   PLANTS.        279 

them.  When  on  small  areas,  outside  or  in  the  greenhouse, 
we  find  about  the  best  plans  are  to  lay  fresh  bones,  or  pa- 
per covered  with  molasses,  around  their  haunts.  These 
they  will  come  to  in  large  numbers.  They  should  be  re- 
moved daily,  and  burned  or  otherwise  destroyed.  Another 
method  that  we  have  found  more  destructive  to  them 
than  any  other,  is  to  puff  Pyrethrum  or  Persian  Insect 
Powder  from  a  strong  bellows  among  them.  The  small- 
est particle  of  this  powder  at  once  chokes  and  kills  them, 
though  it  must  strike  them  dry  to  be  effective;  for  we 
find  that  when  the  powder  lies  damp  on  the  floor,  they 
will  run  over  it,  and  even  burrow  in  it  with  impunity. 
Nothing  I  have  ever  tried  will  "  poison"  Ants.  Either 
their  instinct  causes  them  to  avoid  it,  or  else  they  are  not 
affected  by  it. 

Angle  Worms  probably  do  no  harm  to  plants  ex- 
cept to  disturb  and  "  glue  up  "  the  soil,  but  this  is  to 
some  extent  hurtful  to  plants  grown  in  pots  or  on 
benches  in  greenhouses.  A  simple  remedy  is  to  slack 
one  pound  of  lime  in  fifteen  or  twenty  gallons  of  water; 
let  the  lime  settle  to  the  bottom,  using  only  the  clear 
water,  which  will  be  sufficiently  impregnated  with  lime 
to  destroy  the  worms.  The  same  remedy  can  also  be  ap- 
plied in  the  open  ground;  but  Angle  Worms  do  but  little 
harm  in  the  garden.  In  placing  plants  in  pots  out-doors 
or  on  an  earth  bench  in  the  greenhouse,  first  sprinkle 
over  with  lime,  which  will  prevent  the  worms  entering 
the  pots  through  the  drainage  holes. 


280  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    LV. 
MILDEW. 

Opinions  afe  to  the  cause  of  mildew  are  varied  and 
somewhat  contradictory.  My  view  is,  that  mildew  being 
a  fungus  growth,  its  seeds  or  spores  are  ever  present  in 
the  atmosphere;  and  when  a  relaxed  condition  of  the  plant 
ensues,  the  minute  germs  find  a  suitable  place  for  their 
development  in  the  enfeebled  leaf.  Therefore  I  believe 
that  anything  that  impedes  the  flow  of  the  sap,  places 
the  plant  in  the  condition  fitted  to  develop  mildew. 
Thus  we  often  see  our  Roses  without  a  taint  of  mildew 
during  all  the  winter  and  early  spring  months,  until  the 
hot,  dry  weather  of  the  middle  or  end  of  May  dries  the 
soil  in  the  pots  to  such  a  degree  that  the  plant  wilts— 
the  sap  is  impeded,  and  mildew  follows.  Or  a  door  may  be 
left  open  and  the  frosty  air  fastens  on  the  stems  and 
leaves,  congeals  the  sap,  enfeebles  the  plant,  and  though 
from  an  entirely  opposite  cause,  the  result  is  the  same. 

I  once  had  a  most  marked  example  of  this  kind.  Early 
in  April  we  had  an  old-fashioned  lean-to  green-house 
filled  with  Roses  in  full  leaf,  in  the  very  highest  state  of 
vigor.  The  house  was  some  sixty  feet  in  length  and  was 
ventilated  by  sliding  down  every  alternate  sash  at  the 
top.  In  ventilating  on  one  occasion,  the  sashes  had  been 
neglected  to  be  closed  until  so  late  in  the  evening  that 
the  Roses  exposed  to  the  air  had  become  chilled  by  frost 
so  that  the  young  shoots  hung  down  as  if  wilted;  as  the 
greenhouse  got  heated  up  they  recovered,  and  to  all  ap- 
pearance next  morning  looked  none  the  worse  for  being 
frozen;  but  in  a  week  after,  mildew  appeared  in  a  clear- 
ly defined  square  space  of  about  3x3  feet,  following  al- 
most exactly  in  the  line  where  the  plants  had  been  frost- 
bitten. It  would  here  seem  that  the  leaves  thus  enfeebled 


MILDEW.  281 

by  the  frost,  simply  afforded  a  congenial  "  soil,  "  for  the 
mildew  germs,  which  probably  are  ever  present  in  the 
atmosphere. 

Had  the  sap  been  arrested  by  the  roots  getting  dry  in 
that  condition  of  growth,  no  doubt  the  result  would 
have  been  nearly  the  same. 

Like  most  other  diseases,  mildew  is  best  met  by  pre- 
vention rather  than  cure,  and  for  this  reason,  all  care 
should  be  taken  to  avoid  the  extremes  referred  to,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  avoid  great  variation  of  temperature. 
Sulphur  is  applied  in  various  ways  to  destroy  mildew, 
but  will  often  fail  if  the  disease  has  gained  much  head- 
way. The  best  way  is  to  use  it  mildly  as  a  preventive. 
This  is  done  by  boiling  three  pounds  of  sulphur  and 
three  pounds  of  lime  in  six  gallons  of  water  until  it  is 
reduced  to  two  gallons;  allow  the  liquid  to  settle  until  it 
gets  clear,  then  pour  it  off  and  keep  it  in  a  jar,  or  bottle 
it  for  use.  One  gill  of  this  is  to  be  mixed  in  five  gallons 
of  water  and  syringed  over  the  Roses  in  the  evening. 
Applied  in  this  weak  state  it  does  not  injure  leaves,  and 
yet  has  the  effect  of  preventing  mildew,  if  perseveringly 
attended  to,  as  the  spores  of  mildew  seemingly  cannot 
vegetate  in  an  atmosphere  or  in  a  soil  impregnated  with 
sulphur.  The  above  preparation  is  Sulphite  of  Calcium. 

Another  method  is,  to  dust  the  leaves  very  lightly  with 
"  Black,  "  or  "  Virgin  Sulphur  " — the  only  reason  this 
kind  is  used  in  preference  to  the  ordinary  yellow  sulphur 
is,  that  it  is  more  volatile  and  can  be  used  to  give  a  lighter 
covering  to  the  foliage,  answering  equally  well  and  being 
less  unsightly.  We  use  one  or  the  other  of  these  methods 
once  a  week  during  spring  or  summer  on  our  Roses,  and 
thus  keep  almost  entirely  clear  of  mildew  on  all  Roses 
grown  under  glass. 

But  the  most  common  and  most  efficient  application 
of  sulphur  against  mildew  in  the  greenhouse,  after  firing 
has  begun,  is  to  paint  the  upper  half  of  the  hot-water 


282  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

pipes,  with  a  mixture  of  sulphur  and  cow  dung,  sulphur 
and  guano,  or  sulphur  and  lime.  Either  of  these  in- 
gredients will  do  to  mix  with  the  sulphur,  the  object  be- 
ing to  merely  give  a  body  to  the  mixture.  We  also  paint 
our  steam  pipes  with  these  mixtures,  but  care  must  be 
taken  not  to  have  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  steam 
pipes  painted,  else  the  fumes  of  the  sulphur  might  be 
strong  enough  to  injure  the  leaves.  For  Black  Spot,  or 
Black  Mildew,  and  Club  Root  or  Wart  Root,  see  chap- 
ter on  '•'  Rose  Growing  in  Winter,  " 


CHAPTER     LVI. 
DIARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR.      ^ 

The  following  diary  of  operations  and  observations  of 
temperature  was  taken  by  my  general  foreman,  at  our 
greenhouses  at  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  from  September  9th, 
1867,  to  September  9th,  1868.  It  is  here  given  with 
some  additions  from  our  operations  taken  from  a  diary 
running  through  the  same  months  in  1885 — 86.  Al- 
though it  necessarily  contains  many  repetitions  and  mat- 
ters of  minor  interest,  it  will  be  found  very  valuable  as  a 
guide  to  the  beginner,  as  well  as  for  convenient  reference 
to  those  of  mature  experience.  We  ourselves  find  such 
a  diary  an  excellent  monitor,  as  the  importance  of  dates 
in  all  horticultural  operations  can  not  be  over-estimated. 
The  record  of  the  thermometer  taken  in  1867 — 68  is 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  notes  for  each  day,  the  firs* 
figure  giving  the  temperature  in  the  shade  at  6  A.  M., 
and  the  second  that  at  6  P.  M. 

SEPTEMBER. 

9th. — From  this  date,  once  a  week  or  oftener  accord- 
ing to  necessity,  all  plants  grown  under  glass  are  syringed 


DIARY  OP  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR.  283 

with  a  solution  of  fir-tree  oil,  to  keep  down  mealy  bug, 
scale,  and  other  insects;  it  is  also  applied  to  Roses  that 
are  planted  on  benches  for  winter  flowering,  which  are 
syringed  every  morning  as  soon  as  the  sun  strikes  the 
glass,  to  keep  down  red  spider,  thrip,  etc.  We  never 
syringe  on  dull  days.  Lifted  and  potted  Bouvardias, 
preparatory  to  planting  them  out  again  on  the  benches 
for  winter.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  Bou- 
vardias should  be  potted  early — not  later  tlfim  the  mid- 
dle of  September,  in  this  section.  If  left  until  cool 
weather  sets  it,  they  will  not  root  freely  in  the  pots,  be- 
ing plants  that  luxuriate  in  a  high  temperature.  The 
plants  are  kept  shaded  and  watered  carefully,  for  a  week 
or  so  after  being  potted,  and  it  is  better  to  keep  them 
outside  until  they  are  placed  permanently  in  the  green- 
house. Also,  put  in  cuttings  of  Variegated  Geraniums 
of  various  kinds  this  day.  Topped  Carnations, for  the  pur- 
pose of  producing  suitable  cuttings  in  October;  it  is  now 
too  late  to  cut  back  those  that  are  wanted  for  winter 
flowers.  Collected  seeds  of  Salvia  patens  and  S.  splen- 
dens.  Cleared  off  old  plants  of  Pansies,  to  allow  the 
self-sown  seedlings  light  and  air.  Beginning  to  dry  off 
Caladiums  grown  in  six  inch  pots.  60° — 62°. 

10^. — Continued  potting  Bouvardias.  Put  in  cut- 
tings of  Zonale  Geraniums;  also,  a  few  cuttings  of  those 
Verbenas  of  which  our  stock  is  short.  61° — 64°. 

12th. — Repotted  Primulas,  for  winter  flowering. 
Sowed  Cabbage,  Cauliflower,  and  Lettuce  seed  in  open 
ground,  to  be  planted  out  under  cold  frames  in  October. 
59°— 55°. 

13th. — Repotted  Fuchsias  for  stock.  Layered  Straw- 
berries in  two-inch  pots,  to  make  a  plantation  next 
month,  rather  late,  however.  54° — 60°. 

14^.— Began  propagating  general  collection  of  Verbe- 
nas; cuttings  in  excellent  order.  Collected  flower  seeds 
of  all  kinds.  58°— 59°. 


284  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

16th. — Eepotted  Euphorbia,  Poinsettia,  and  other 
plants  for  winter  flowering.  Lifted  and  potted  stock 
Geraniums  that  we  are  short  of  to  make  cuttings  during 
winter.  55° — 59°. 

17th. — Began  propagating  a  general  collection  of  bed- 
ding plants,  and  as  the  weather  is  getting  somewhat  hot- 
ter, precaution  is  taken  to  douse  the  walks,  benches,  and 
all  parts  of  the  propagating  houses  with  water,  to  reduce 
the  temperarture.  A  little  ventilation  left  on  in  all  Rose 
houses  at  night — the  object  being  to  prevent  a  too  ten- 
der growth,  as  colder  weather  must  soon  be  expected. 
65°— 75°. 

ISth. — Collected  seeds  of  Campanulas,  Lychnis,  Del- 
phiniums, and  other  hardy  herbaceous  plants,  and  sowed 
at  once;  nearly  all  seeds  of  this  character  germinate  bet- 
ter if  sown  as  soon  as  gathered.  69° — 74°. 

\%th. — Overhauled  boilers  and  examined  valves,  pre- 
paratory for  winter  work,  painted  pipes  with  sulphur 
mixture  to  ward  off  mildew.  See  "  Mildew." 

20/A. — Potted  off  in  two-inch  pots  the  Verbena  cut- 
tings that  were  put  in  on  the  10th  and  12th  inst.  Result 
excellent.  No  fire  heat  has  as  yet  been  used  in  propagat- 
ing. 68°— 70°. 

Z2d. — Planted  those  Bouvardias  that  were  potted  on 
the  9th  instant,  on  the  benches  of  the  greenhouse;  also 
placed  Poinsettias  under  glass.  They  are  taken  from  the 
pots  and  planted  in  six  inches  of  soil,  at  a  distance  of 
from  eight  to  twelve  inches  apart,  or  near  enough  for  the 
plants  to  touch.  The  distance  apart  is  regulated  by  the 
size  of  the  plants.  Began  to  propagate  second  and  larg- 
est lot  of  Verbenas,  Heliotropes,  and  general  collection  of 
bedding  plants,  it  being  rather  safer  at  this  date  than  on 
the  previous  ones  of  the  10th  and  12th,  on  account  of  a 
general  lower  temperature.  Gathered  Verbena,  Salvia, 
and  other  flower  seeds,  that  are  in  better  state  now  than 
they  were  two  weeks  ago.  52° — 52°. 


DIARY    OF   OPERATIONS   FOR   THE   YEAR.  285 

23<?.— Removed  the  slight  shading  from  the  glass  that 
was  put  on  in  June. 

24/7*. — Put  in  main  crop  of  Verbena  cuttings  from  open 
ground  at  this  date.  Fumigated  greenhouses,  in  which 
bedding  plants  are  kept  for  the  first  time  this  season; 
will  continue  to  do  so  at  least  twice  every  week  until  the 
greenhouses  are  again  empty  of  plants,  the  order  being 
that  Aphis  or  Green  Fly  must  never  be  see'i;  placed  fresh 
tobacco  stems  under  the  Rose  benches.  43° — 55°. 

25th. — Lifted  Carnations  with  balls  of  earth  from  the 
open  ground,  and  planted  them  in  fi7e  or  six  inches  of 
soil  on  the  benches  of  the  greenhouses  for  winter  flower- 
ing. We  are  enabled  to  lift  then)  in  this  way  from  the 
peculiarity  of  our  soil,  which  is  stiff  and  clayey;  on  most 
soils  this  method  would  not  be  practicable;  if  the  soil 
did  not  adhere  to  the  rootq  it  would  be  necessary  to  be 
more  careful  in  shading.  Put  in  cuttings  of  Variegated 
and  Zonale  Geraniums  for  main  crop.  58° — GO0. 

2Gth. — Continued  putting  in  Verbena  and  other  cut- 
tings. First  fires  started.  It  is  all  important  to  watch 
for  the  first  fall  in  temperature  about  this  date.  Many 
houses  of  Roses  and  other  plants  are  ruined  from  the  ne- 
glect to  start  slight  fires  when  the  thermometer  quickly 
falls,  as  it  often  does  at  this  date,  fifteen  degrees  in  twelve 
hours.  In  1881,  before  this  was  generally  understood, 
one-half  of  all  the  Rose  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York  had  their  contents  destroyed  during  a  cold  rain 
storm  in  September,  where  the  thermometer  fell  twenty 
degrees  in  twenty-four  hours.  40° — 44°. 

27M. — Planted  out  in  the  benches  Eupatoriums,  Stev- 
ias,  etc.,  that  have  been  kept  in  pots  all  summer.  42° — 
50°. 

2Sth. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Coleus,  Salvias,  etc.,  from 
outside.  42°— 49°. 

30*7*.—  Put  all  tender  plants  in  the  houses,  as  from 
about  this  date  there  is  danger  from  frost.  Lifted  clumps 


286  PKACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

of  double  Neapolitan  Violet,  and  planted  them  at  dis- 
tances of  niue  or  ten  inches  apart,  on  the  benches  of  cold 
greenhouse,  in  the  same  way  as  the  Carnations.  The 
same  precautions  necessary  in  shading  and  watering,  if 
the  weather  is  dry  and  sunny.  42° — 50°. 

OCTOBER. 

1st. — Lifted  and  potted  Carnations  and  Pinks  from  the 
open  ground,  that  are  wished  for  early  flowering  in  spring. 
42°— 53°. 

2d. — Potted  off  Petunias,  Zonale  Geraniums,  and  other 
bedding  plants  that  were  put  in  as  cuttings  on  the  17th 
ult.  Planted  out  Stevia  compact  a  and  other  varieties  on 
benches  of  greenhouse,  for  winter  flowering,  as  thvy 
are  too  tall,  they  are  planted  by  laying  them  on  their 
side,  which  answers  well.  Lifted  up  and  planted  Straw- 
berry runners  closely  together  in  cold  frames,  so  that  they 
can  be  conveniently  got  at  in  spring  for  early  orders. 
Planted  early,  they  make  root  sufficient  to  stand  the  win- 
ter. 42°— 52°. 

3d. — "Top  dressed"  Rose  beds,  one  inch  in  depth, 
with  a  compost  of  two  parts  soil  and  two  parts  rotted 
cow  dung,  to  which  is  added  about  one-twentieth  in  bulk 
of  pure  bone  dust. 

4/A.— Potted  off  Verbenas  put  in  on  the  22d  ult.;  had 
excellent  success.  47° — 50°. 

5th. — Lifted  from  ground  stock  plants  of  Variegated 
and  Zonale  Geraniums,  and  potted  them.  49° — 54°. 

7th. — Operations  same  as  Saturday.  To-day  shows  the 
first  ice,  and  very  tender  plants  outside  are  somewhat  in- 
jured. Dahlias  uninjured.  33° — 48°. 

8th. — Corrected  and  re-labeled  Dahlias,  in  anticipation 
of  their  soon  being  cut  down  by  frost.  Potted  off  Verbe- 
nas, and  put  in  cuttings  of  Ve/benas,  and  Rose  and  Zonale 
Geraniums.  34°— 46°. 

9th. — The  advancing  season  warns  us  to  house  Lemon 


DIARY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAK.  287 

Verbenas,  Geraniums,  Roses,  Chrysanthemums,  and  other 
of  the  more  hardy  plants  that  have  yet  heen  standing  out- 
doors. Lemon  Verbenas  being  deciduous  (shedding  their 
leaves),  are  put  under  the  benches,  as  they  can  there  be 
kept  with  safety  until  March,  when  they  begin  to  start 
again;  the  temperature  will  average  45°  under  the  bench. 
46°_52°. 

10th. — The  same  as  yesterday. 

llth. — Lifted  Japan  and  other  Lilies  and  placed  them 
closely  together,  covered  with  four  inches  of  sand,  at  the 
north  side  of  a  south  wall,  to  retard  them  for  spring  sales; 
they  are  lifted  for  this  purpose  only,  as  nearly  all  Lilies 
are  hardy,  and  will  always  do  better  if  left  out  undis- 
turbed all  winter  where  they  grew;  though  if  the  situa- 
tion is  very  cold  or  exposed,  a  covering  up  with  a  few 
inches  of  sawdust,  leaves,  or  manure,  will  be  of  benefit. 
48°_61°. 

12th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Fuchsias,  Heliotropes,  and 
Carnations,  that  have  been  started  from  plants  grown 
under  glass;  young  shoots  only.  49° — 62°. 

14-th. — Lifted  Tuberoses,  and  placed  them  in  empty 
benches  of  greenhouses  to  dry.  Tied  down  the  flowering 
shoots  of  Tuberoses  that  are  getting  against  the  glass. 
44°_52°. 

15th.—  The  earlier  kinds  of  Chrysanthemums,  such  as 
Elaine  (white),  Red  Dragon,  Lance  d'Or  (dark  yellow), 
Boquet  Fait  (rose),  Geo.  Glenny  (lemon  color),  J.  Collins 
(bronze),  are  now  coming  in  flower  and  selling  well, 
other  flowers  being  rather  scarce  at  this  date.  We  find  it 
best  to  grow  for  flowers  such  Chrysanthemums  as  are 
early  oM  late,  and  thus  avoid  the  glut  that  always  occurs 
in  the  latter  part  of  November. 

16^. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Carnations  and  Pinks  of  all 
kinds.  41°— 58°. 

Wh.  —Pricked  out  Cabbage,  Cauliflower,  and  Lettuce 


288  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

plants,  (that  were  sown  on  the  12th  of  September,)  in 
cold  frames.  50°— 61°. 

18th. — Pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes  seedlings  of  Del- 
phinium, etc.,  sown  on  the  4th  of  last  month.  50° — 61°. 

19^. — Planted  Pansy  seed  lings  from  seeds  sown  on  the 
15th  of  September,  in  cold  frames,  four  or  five  inches 
apart  each  way.  52°— 68°. 

21s/. — Continued  planting  Pansies,  and  put  in  Verbena 
cuttings,  taken  from  the  open  ground.  Collected  seeds 
of  Verbenas,  Salvias,  etc.,  etc.  53° — 55°. 

22d. — Potted  off  the  Verbenas  put  in  on  the  8th  inst. ; 
also,  Coleus,  Centaurea,  Salvias,  etc.,  that  were  put  in  on 
the  28th  of  September.  Sowed  Centaurea,  Pyrethrum, 
etc.,  for  ribbon  line  plants  for  spring.  54° — 63°. 

23^.—  Lifted,  divided,  and  potted  Callas.    44°— 46°. 

2±th. — Repotted  Stock  Giliflowers.  First  severe  frost. 
Dahlias  and  all  tender  plants  cut  down.  24° — 46°. 

25th. — Made  cuttings  of  a  general  variety  of  soft- 
wooded  plants,  of  such  as  have  yet  stood  uninjured  in 
the  open  ground.  36° — 44°. 

26th. — Moved  the  first  potted  lots  of  Verbenas,  to  pre- 
vent them  rooting  through  into  the  sand,  and  shifted 
about  one-fourth  into  three  inch  pots,  for  stock  plants 
for  cuttings.  35°— 41°. 

28th. — Potted  off  Fuchsias,  Heliotropes,  etc.,  from 
propagating  house.  Lifted  Roses  from  the  open  ground 
for  shipment  and  for  potting,  to  be  kept  in  cold  frames. 
40°— 56°. 

29th. — Potted  Myrsiphyllum  (Smilax)  asparagoides, 
from  seed  boxes,  (sown  on  August  1st);  cleaned  up  and 
top-dressed  Primulas.  50°— 50°. 

30th. — Continued  lifting  Roses  for  shipment.  46° — 
54°. 

3t.s/. — Put  in  Carnations  and  Pink  cuttings;  we  find 
greater  success  at  this  season  than  earlier,  it  being  very 
important  that  Carnation  cuttings  are  rooted  at  a  low 


DIARY   OF   OPERATIONS  FOR  THE   YEAR.  289 

atmospheric  temperature.  Caladiums  completely  dried 
off  taken  from  benches,  and  placed  underneath  them; 
these  must  be  kept  dry  until  they  are  again  to  be  started 
in  May.  41°— 53° 

NOVEMBER. 

1st. — Potted  Roses  for  spring  blooming  and  sales,  first 
pruning  off  one-third  of  the  shoots.  This  operation  of 
pruning  should  always  be  done  before  the  plant  is  potted, 
as  it  takes  less  than  half  the  time,  and  the  plant  being 
divested  of  its  superfluous  shoots  is  much  more  quickly 
and  easily  handled  in  potting.  The  plants  after  potting 
are  freely  watered  once,  to  consolidate  the  soil,  and  if  the 
sun  is  bright  and  warm  they  are  shaded  by  latticed  shut- 
ters. The  plants  are  placed  in  a  cold  greenhouse  or  cold 
frame,  care  being  taken  to  keep  them  as  cool  as  possible, 
and  on  no  consideration  to  use  fire  heat  unless  to  keep  the 
soil  in  the  pots  from  freezing.  Little  fire  need  be  used  if 
the  pots  are  completely  covered  with  dry  leaves.  If  pos- 
sible, Eoses  should  never  be  kept  at  a  higher  temperature 
than  forty  degrees  by  fire  heat,  until  the  young  or 
"  working  roots  "  are  formed.  See  Chapter  on  the  Rose 
for  more  comprehensive  details.  41° — 53°. 

2d. — Continued  potting  Roses,  and  put  in  Antirrhi- 
num, Pentstemon,  and  other  cuttings  of  half  hardy 
plants  from  the  open  ground.  45° — 53°. 

Uh.—  Cut  down  and  placed  under  the  benches  tho 
Dahlias  that  have  been  grown  during  summer  in  pots. 
47°_48°. 

5th. — The  Roses,  Bouvardias,  Carnations,  Stevias,  etc., 
are  now  blooming  profusely.  33° — 40°. 

Qth. — The  cold  weather  warns  us  that  everything  must 
soon  be  secured,  so  to-day  we  take  up,  divide,  and  pot  for 
spring  sales,  herbaceous  plants  of  all  kinds.  Late  Chrys- 
anthemums grown  in  deep  frames,  must  now  be  covered 
up  with  straw  mats  every  night,  giving  air  freely  in  the 


290  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

day  time;  also  watch  that  they  do  not  get  dry  at  the 
roots.  31°— 40°. 

1th. — Last  night's  frost  finally  destroyed  the  Dahlias, 
so  we  lifted  and  secured  them  to-day,  by  drying  on  the 
empty  benches  of  the  greenhouse.  Those  to  be  started 
for  cuttings  in  March  are  now  placed  at  once  in  soil  and 
kept  there  without  water  until  they  start;  in  this  way 
every  root  can  be  saved.  Cannas  were  lifted  and  placed 
under  greenhouse  benches.  30° — 42°. 

8th. — Planted  in  the  open  ground  the  Strawberry  run- 
ners that  were  layered  in  pots,  and  covered  them  close  up 
to  the  neck  of  the  plants  with  rough  manure.  Put  in 
Carnation,  Begonia,  Petunia,  Verbena,  and  other  cut- 
tings, from  plants  that  have  been  growing  in  the  green- 
house. 41°— 52°. 

Sth. — Put  Tuberose  bulbs  that  have  been  dried  on  the 
top  of  the  benches  underneath,  to  make  room  for  plants 
needing  light.  42°— 50°. 

IQth.—  The  same.     42°— 51°. 

12th. — Again  resumed  the  potting  of  the  general  col- 
lection of  Roses,  which  had  to  be  partially  suspended  for 
more  pressing  work.  First  snow,  two  inches  deep.  34° 
—40°. 

13th.—  Potted  Verbena  cuttings  and  Roses.    33°— 32°. 

Itth. — Lifted  Violets  from  open  exposure  and  placed 
them  in  a  sheltered  spot  for  planting  out  for  stock  in 
spring.  30°— 45°. 

15th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Variegated  and  other  Geran- 
iums from  plants  that  have  been  under  glass  since  Octo- 
ber 5th.  33°— 34°. 

16th. — Potted  off  cuttings  of  Geraniums  that  were  put 
in  the  cutting  bench  in  September.  The  cuttings  were 
too  soft,  owing  to  the  season,  when  they  were  put  in,  and 
in  consequence  have  taken  longer  to  root,  yet  have  nearly 
all  taken.  36°— 40°. 

17 'th. — Lifted  and  potted  stock  plants  of  Chrysanthe- 


DIA.RY   OF  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR.  291 

mums  and  Phloxes.  Eoses  and  Azaleas  imported  from 
England  and  Germany,  were  received  in  fine  order.  28° 
—25°. 

19th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Pelargoniums,  Geraniums, 
Carnations,  etc.  18°— 25°. 

20th. — Lifted  Eoses  from  the  open  ground  and  heeled 
them  in  under  cover,  as  we  were  apprehensive  they  may 
yet  freeze  in  the  ground,  and  our  potting  of  Eoses  is  two 
weeks  later  than  usual.  An  experience  of  over  thirty 
years  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  shows  us  that  we  are 
never  absolutely  safe  from  having  the  ground  frozen  after 
November  20th.  Hence  all  lifting  of  plants  from  the 
open  ground,  digging,  or  plowing  should  be  finished  by 
this  date.  37°— 39°. 

21^.— The  same.     33°— 40°. 

22d. — Eeceived  six  cases  of  new  plants  from  London, 
in  fair  order;  we  find  this  time  of  the  year  and  March 
the  safest  months  in  which  to  import.  Earlier  in  the 
season,  the  temperature  is  too  high,  and  in  the  time  in- 
tervening between  November  and  March  there  is  danger 
from  frost.  32° — 43°. 

23 d. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Eoses  made  from  ripened 
wood,  and  placed  them  in  a  cold  frame,  so  sheltered  as 
not  to  be  frozen  in  winter.  But  the  result  from  thia 
method  is  far  less  satisfactory  than  in  propagating  Eoses 
from  cuttings  of  the  young  wood;  here  we  lose  an  aver- 
age of  fifty  per  cent.,  while  from  the  young  shoots,  if 
done  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  described  in  the 
Chapter  on  Propagation,  not  even  one  per  cent,  need  be 
lost.  39°— 45°. 

25^.— The  same.     44°— 49°. 

26th.—  The  same.      50°— 47°. 

27th. — Cleared  the  ground  of  the  remaining  Eoses  and 
Shrubs,  preparatory  to  plowing  up  for  winter,  though 
rather  late.  See  remarks  under  20th  inst.  34°— 43°. 

2W.— The  same  as  yesterday.    43°— 48°. 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


.  —  Overhauled  and  arranged  recently  potted  off 
plants.  Tuberose  flowers  are  now  produced  in  quantity 
from  bulbs  that  were  planted  in  benches  in  greenhouse, 
on  August  1st.  42°  —  50°. 

SQth.  —  Sowed  large  quantities  of  seed  of  Ampelopsis 
Veitchii  in  shallow  boxes.  Sown  thus  early  they  make 
fine  plants  for  setting  out  in  May;  also  seeds  of  Dracena 
indivisa,  Pandanus  utilis  and  Latania  Borbonica,  and 
other  palm  seeds  were  sown.  38°  —  24°. 

DECEMBER. 

2d.  —  Potted  off  cuttings  of  Carnations  and  Pinks  that 
were  put  in  on  the  llth  of  October;  loss  heavy,  as  they 
have  been  put  in  two  weeks  too  early.  27°  —  28°. 

3d.  —  Potted  off  cuttings  of  Pentstemons,  Antirrhinums, 
etc.,  which  were  put  in  a  month  ago.  Very  successful. 
30°—  35°. 

4/A.  —  Continued  potting  Roses,  and  putting  in  hard- 
wood cuttings  of  Roses.  26°  —  30°. 

5th.  —  Flowers  of  Bouvardias,  Carnations,  Heliotropes, 
Roses,  and  Tuberoses,  are  now  produced  in  large  quanti- 
ties from  the  plantations  previously  made,  as  recorded. 
We  find  that  in  the  planting  out  of  Tuberose  bulbs  on 
the  15th  of  July,  1st  of  August,  and  15th  of  August, 
those  planted  on  the  1st  of  August  give  the  most  profita- 
ble results;  the  first  date  being  too  early,  brings  them  in 
while  the  market  is  glutted,  while  by  that  of  the  15th  of 
August,  the  bulbs  get  too  much  exhausted  by  being  kept 
dry  too  long  out  of  season.  Next  season  will  put  late 
bulbs  in  "cold  storage  vaults."  26°  —  28°. 

6^.  —  Finished  potting  Roses  in  five  and  six-inch  pots. 
The  operation  has  occupied  in  the  potting  alone  the  time 
of  three  hands  for  about  three  weeks,  the  average  work 
of  each  being  eight  hundred  plants  per  day. 

1th.  —  Put  in  cuttings  of  Verbenas,  Carnations,  Zonale 
and  Variegated  Geraniums,Pelargoniums,and  soft  wooded 


DTARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR.  293 

plants  of  all  kinds,  the  condition  of  the  temperature  from 
this  date  to  the  middle  of  March  being  such  that  cut- 
tings of  every  description  are  rooted  with  unerring  cer- 
tainty, if  the  simple  conditions  which  we  lay  down  in 
Chapter  on  Propagation  are  followed. 

9th.  —At  this  date,  we  number  fifty  thousand  of  our 
.staple  plant,  Verbena.  These  we  will  multiply  from  ten 
to  fifteen  fold,  until  the  first  week  in  May,  which  is  as 
late  as  the  Verbena  can  be  propagated,  to  make  a  plant 
of  sufficient  strength.  30° — 26°. 

10th. — Potted  off  Carnation  cuttings,  which  were  put 
in  on  November  8th,  from  plants  grown  under  glass, 
which  have  done  very  well.  Repotted  and  cleaned  up 
Primroses.  27°— 28°. 

llth. — Put  in  green  cuttings  of  Bouvardias,  in  bottom 
heat  at  eighty;  top  heat  seventy.  This  mode  of  propa- 
gating the  Bouvardia  is  not  so  good  as  by  the  root,  but 
it  is  necessary  sometimes  to  do  so  when  we  wish  to  in- 
crease new  sorts  rapidly.  27° — 28°. 

12th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  winter  flowering  Roses  taken 
from  the  plants  that  are  flowering.  20° — 8°. 

13^. — Again  painted  pipes  with  the  sulphur  mixture  to 
counteract  mildew;  also  put  in  fresh  tobacco  stems  under 
benches  to  keep  down  Aphis.  See  "Insects."  4° — 8°. 

Uth.—  The  same.     14°— 12°. 

16th. — Began  staking  Roses  to-day.  If  stakes  are  pro- 
vided, the  average  work  for  each  hand  is  five  hundred 
plants  per  day.  Experienced  hands  should  nearly  double 
that  number.  16°— 24°. 

llth. — Put  in  cuttings  of  the  new  Fuchsias,  Chrysan- 
themums, etc.,  from  the  plants  which  were  received  from 
England  on  November  22d.  22°— 28°. 

18^. — Repotted  Lan tanas,  Variegated  Geraniums  and 
other  plants,  kept  in  hot-house  range.  23° — 20°. 

19/A.— Potted  off  cuttings.     11°— 10°. 


2§4  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

20th. — Sowed  Pansier,  Daisies  and  Forget-me-nots  for 
late  flowering  in  spring.  8° — 26°. 

21st. — Put  in  root  cuttings  of  Anemone.  (See  Propa- 
gation). 22°— 26°. 

23d.  Shipped  to-day  large  numbers  of  Verbenas, 
packed  in  close  boxes.  (See  chapter  on  packing).  28° 
-26°. 

24tf&. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Coleus,  Lantanas,  Fuchsias, 
Petunias,  etc.,  etc.  27°— 30°. 

25th.—  Christmas  Day.     30°— 36°. 

26th. — Continued  propagation  of  all  kinds  of  plants, 
and  shifted  Geraniums,  Heliotropes,  Roses,  etc.,  from 
two  to  three  inch  pots.  42°— 38°. 

27^.—  The  same.    44°— 40°. 

28th— Kepotted  Zonale  and  Variegated  Geraniums,  to 
induce  growth  to  produce  material  for  cuttings.  36° — 
42°. 

30th. — Cleared  off  the  roots  of  Tuberoses  that  have 
done  flowering  (those  that  were  planted  in  July  and 
August).  The  last  flowers  sold  at  $8.00  per  100  florets 
on  the  24th  inst.,  (1867).  Could  they  have  been  kept 
until  January  1st,  they  would  have  sold  one-third  high- 
er. Busy  in  cutting  flowers  to-day,  in  large  quantities, 
to  be  made  up  into  baskets  and  bouquets  for  New  Year's 
Day.  Late  Chrysanthemums  such  as  Yellow  Eagle,  Cul- 
lingfordii,  (Crimson),  Christmas  Eve,  (White),  Moon- 
light, (Straw  Color),  Mrs.  Allen,  (Carmine),  and  Fan- 
tasie,  (Pink),  that  have  been  kept  in  cold  houses  and 
matted  up  in  deep  pits — have  done  well  and  are  very 
profitable  when  kept  thus  late.  26°— 24°. 

31**.—  The  same. 

JANUARY. 

2nd. — Sowed  seeds  of  Lobelia  Paxtoniana,  Delphinium, 
and  other  plants  suitable  for  bedding  out  for  summer. 
28°— 22°. 


DIARY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAR.  295 

3rd. — Repotted  stock  plants  of  Pelargoniums,  Fuch- 
sias, Lantanas,  Petunias,  etc.,  to  encourage  growth  to 
produce  cuttings.  29° — 34°. 

Uh.  —The  same.     24°— 28°. 

6th.—  The  same.     14°— 26°. 

7th. — Repotted  Fuchsias,  Pelargoniums,  Heliotropes, 
Petunias,  etc.,  from  two-inch  to  four-inch  pots,  to  pro- 
duce growth  for  spring  sales.  20° — 30°. 

8th. — Large  quantities  of  Verbenas,  Heliotropes,  Fuch- 
sias, etc.,  are  now  put  in  the  propagating  benches,  this 
being,  perhaps,  the  best  season  to  root  cuttings,  to  give 
fine  plants  in  May.  24°— 32°. 

9th. — Washed  the  soil  from  "pot  bound"  plants  of 
Heliotropes,  Pelargoniums,  and  similar  plants  grown  in 
bench  pots,  and  re-potted  in  fresh  soil  in  pots  of  similar 
eize.  For  detail  of  this  method  see  Potting  of  Plants. 
28°— 14°. 

Wth. — First  sowing  of  Cabbage,  Cauliflower  and  Let- 
tuce in  seed  house.  Night  temperature,  55°.  4° — 12°. 

llth.—  The  same.     14°— 18°. 

13th. — First  lot  of  Chrysanthemum  cuttings  put  in 
from  general  collection.  10°— 12°. 

I4:th. — Shifted  Roses  that  are  forcing  to  produce  win- 
ter flowers.  This  date  is  not  the  best  for  this  work — 
nearer  spring  is  better — but  the  plants  required  it.  10° 
—20°. 

15th.—  The  same      14°— 22°. 

16th.—  The  same.     18°— 22°. 

\1th. — Pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes,  one  inch  apart, 
the  seedling  plants  sown  on  the  2nd  inst.  12° — 20°. 

18^.— Potted  off  from  propagating  house,  struck  cut- 
tings of  Petunias,  Heliotropes,  Variegated  Geraniums, 
Carnations,  etc.  10°— 22°. 

%Qth. — Top  dressed  Roses  with  the  same  compost,  and 
in  the  same  manner,  as  was  done  on  October  3rd.  Begun 
grafting  Roses.  See  Propagation.  20°— 31°. 


296  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

21s/.     The  same.     18°— 34°. 

22nd.—  The  same.     20°— 14°. 

23rd. — Potted  Anemone  Japonica  from  root  cuttinga 
put  in  on  the  21st  ult.  22°— 18°. 

24/A. — Again  potted  off  Verbenas  and  Roses  in  large 
quantities,  and  filled  up  the  place  occupied  by  them  in 
the  bench  with  cuttings.  19°— 24°. 

25th.     The  same.     20°— 18°. 

26th. — Weather  is  steady  and  moderate,  which  is  taken 
advantage  of  to  ship  plants  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Packing  is  done  securely,  so  that  almost  every  case  is  re- 
ceived in  safety.  See  Chapter  on  Packing.  20° — 22°. 

28/A. — All  operations  but  firing  and  watering  nearly 
suspended,  in  consequence  of  all  hands  being  occupied  in 
getting  up  orders  and  packing.  18° — 24°. 

29/A.—  Potted  off  Passiflora  c&rulea  from  root  cut- 
tings. Potted  off  in  two-inch  pots  Delphiniums  and 
Lobelias  that  had  been  pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes  on 
the!7thinst.  22°— 28°. 

30/A. — Continued  to  pot  rooted  cuttings  of  Verbenas, 
Geraniums,  etc.,  filling  up  the  space  by  fresh  cuttings 
as  soon  as  cleared.  16°— 12°. 

31s/ — Finished  staking  Roses  to-day.  Second  sowing 
of  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower  in  seed  house.  8° — 16°. 

FEBRUARY. 

1st. — "  Plunged  "  Roses  in  greenhouse  benches  that 
have  been  taken  from  cold  pits,  in  refuse  hops  to  the 
rims  of  the  pots.  We  find  this  a  great  saving  in  water- 
ing, besides  keeping  the  roots  in  a  uniform  condition  of 
moisture  conducive  to  healthy  growth.  8° — 16°. 

2nd.—  The  same.     8°— 16°. 

3rd.     The  same.     6°— 4°. 

4fi.—  The  same.     Zero— 6°. 

5th.—  Cleared  the  benches  of  Eupatorium,  Steria,  Car- 


/>IARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR.  297 

nations,  etc.,  which  have  become  exhausted  or  are  done 
flowering,  and  filled  up  with  spring  stock.  4° — 18°. 

6th.—  The  same.     22°— 28°. 

7th.  Put  in  cuttings  of  Roses,  Lan tanas,  Fuchsias, 
Antirrhinums,  Petunias,  etc.  22° — 28°. 

8^.— The  same.     1°  below  zero— 12°. 

KM.— Cleared  off  Bouvardias  that  have  been  forcing 
for  flowers,  cutting  off  the  tops  and  planting  the  roots 
closely  together  in  shallow  boxes,  and  placing  them  under 
the  bench.  These  roots  make  splendid  plants  for  next 
season,  or  the  roots  may  be  cut  up  for  propagating.  12° 

11/A. — Pricking  out  Cauliflower  and  Cabbage  into  boxes 
one  and  one-half  inch  deep  from  the  lot  sown  January 
10th.  They  are  placed  outside  in  cold  houses  or  slight 
hot-bed  and  matted  up. 

12^7i. — Arranged  plants  on  the  benches  where  the  Bou- 
vardias and  other  flowering  plants  had  been  growing. 
Zero— 26°. 

13th. — Continued  plunging  Roses,  as  begun  on  the 
first  inst.,  placing  them,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
plants,  at  such  distance  apart  as  will  allow  the  outside 
shoots  to  be  an  inch  or  so  from  each  other.  A  bouse  full 
of  Roses  in  the  dormant  state  when  the  pots  are  placed 
close  to  each  other  should  fill,  when  thinned  out,  just 
double  the  space,  to  give  them  sufficient  room  to  grow. 
20°— 32°. 

Uth.     The  same. 

15th.—  The  same. 

17/#. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Phloxes  and  Chrysanthe, 
mums.  14°— 32°. 

18th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Begonias,  Stevias,  Eupatori- 
ums,  etc.,  etc.,  to  produce  plants  to  grow  in  summer  for 
next  winter's  flowers. 

IQth. — Cleared  out  Carnation  plants  that  have  been 
forced  for  flower.  As  such  plants  are  of  but  little  uso 


298  PKACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

after  they  have  been  thus  forced,  we  find  it  most  profit- 
able to  throw  them  away  and  replace  them  by  young  and 
fresh  stuff.  22°— 30°. 

20th. — Pricked  out  rooted  cuttings  of  Carnations  one 
inch  apart  in  shallow  boxes,  to  economize  space;  after  be- 
ing  sufficiently  rooted  in  the  boxes,  they  are  placed  in 
cold  greenhouses  or  frames.  See  Carnations  for  Cut 
Flowers.  We  find  that  thus  treated  and  planted  out  in 
the  open  ground  they  do  quite  as  well  as  if  they  had 
been  potted,  and  nearly  one-half  the  space  is  saved.  30° 
—34°. 

2lst. — Put  in  large  quantities  of  the  leading  bedding 
plants,  such  as  Verbenas,  Petunias,  Heliotropes,  Gera- 
niums, etc.,  for  succession  crops.  36° — 30°. 

22</.— Pricking  out  Cabbage,  Cauliflower  and  Lettuce 
from  the  seed  sown  January  31st.  26° — 30°. 

24/7*.— The  same.     24°— 16°. 

25th. — Put  in  first  Rose  cuttings  from  young  wood,  of 
some  new  sorts  that  are  scarce  with  us.  Finished  thin- 
ning out  and  plunging  Roses.  17° — 22°. 

26th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Lantana,  Variegated  Gera- 
niums, etc. 

27/to.— The  same.     24°— 30°. 

28/A.— The  same.     28°— 26°. 

2Mh. — First  sowing  of  Tomato,  Pepper,  and  Egg  Plant 
seeds  in  shallow  boxes  for  spring  plants,  in  a  night  tem- 
perature of  65°.  22°— 20°. 

MARCH. 

2nd. — Put  in  first  cuttings  of  Dahlias,  new  Chrysanthe- 
mums, new  Fuchsias,  etc.  Sowed  Chinese  Primroses, 
Calceolaria,  Cineraria,  and  seeds  of  other  plants  of  this 
class,  as  we  find  it  is  better  to  sow  now  and  carry  them 
through  the  summer  than  to  sow,  as  is  often  done,  in 
August.  See  Chapter  on  Propagation  by  Seeds.  12° 
—10°. 


DIARY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAR.  299 

3rd. — Pricked  off  seedling  Petunias  into  shallow  boxes 
one  inch  apart  each  way.  Sowed  Verbena  seeds  in  shal- 
low boxes;  as  they  germinate  slowly,  care  is  taken  to 
cover  with  finely-sifted  leaf  mould  to  the  depth  of  half 
an  inch,  and  sprinkle  daily,  so  that  they  never  get  dry. 
See  Propagation  of  Plants  by  seeds.  Temperature  at 
night  60°  to  65°.  Zero— 4°. 

4th. — Began  to  put  in  Rose  cuttings  in  quantity,  care 
being  taken  not  to  let  the  bottom  heat  exceed  65°,  with 
an  atmosphere  of  10  or  15  degrees  lower.  See  Propaga- 
tion for  further  details.  Zero— 20°. 

5th. — The  same. 

6th. — Potted  off  Pelargonium  cuttings  in  good  order; 
they  will  make  fine,  healthy  plants  by  May.  Sowed 
Zinnias,  Asters,  and  all  tender  annual  seeds.  16° — 33°. 

yth. — We  are  now  shipping  large  quantities  of  all  kinds 
of  plants,  mostly  to  florists.  32°— 34°. 

9^. — Put  in  cuttings  of  all  sorts  in  large  quantities. 
30°— 40°. 

10/7*. — Second  sowing  of  Tomatoes,  Pepper,  and  Egg 
Plant  seeds  for  succession.  32°— 30°. 

11  th. — Put  in  Rose  cuttings  in  large  quantities.  36° 
—25°. 

12^.— The  same.     30°— 30°. 

13^. — Pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes,  an  inch  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  apart,  the  Tomato,  Pepper  and  Egg 
Plants  from  seeds  sown  on  the  29th  ult.  Average  work 
for  one  hand  is  about  3,000  plants  per  day.  36°— 42°. 

14*A.— The  same. 

16th.  —Put  in  cuttings  of  Dahlias,  Fuchsias,  etc.  42° 
—44°. 

nth— Potted  off  the  Rose  cuttings  which  were  put  in 
on  the  25th  ult.  ;  an  entire  success.  40° — 46°. 

18th. — Placed  young  Carnation  plants  out  in  cold 
frames,  to  harden  them  off,  preparatory  to  planting  them 
out  in  the  open  ground.  38° — 42°. 


300  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

19^.— The  same.     30°— 40°. 

20th.—  The  same.     30°— 34=°. 

22nd,  — Continued  putting  in  Roses  and  Verbena  cut- 
tings in  large  quantities.  28° — 30°. 

23rtf. —The  same.     30° — 42°. 

2±th. — Pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes  the  Zinnias  and 
Asters,  which  were  sown  on  the  6th  inst.  30° — 42°. 

25th.— Now  shipping  largely.     30°— 28°. 

25th. — The  second  sowing  of  Tomatoes  and  Egg  Plants 
was  pricked  out  in  boxes.  Continued  putting  in  Koso 
cuttings  in  large  quantities.  30° — 26°. 

27flfc.— The  same.     40° — 44°. 

28th. — Pricked  out  in  shallow  boxes  the  seedling  plants 
of  Verbenas  that  were  sown  on  the  3d  inst.  32° — 38°. 

30M. — Putting  in  cutting,  of  Clematis  and  Azaleas, 
using  the  young  wood  partially  firm.  30° — 36°. 

31s/. — Potted  off  Rose  cuttings  that  were  put  in  on  the 
4th  inst.  32°— 48°, 

APRIL. 

1st, — The  Pansy  seedlings  sown  on  29th  December 
and  pricked  out  in  boxes,  were  now  pricked  out  in  cold 
frames,  and  matted  up  on  cold  nights.  These  make  fine 
plants  by  middle  of  May  and  bloom  much  better  through 
the  hot  weather,  than  those  sown  in  the  fall.  Ampelopsis 
Veitcliii,  from  seeds  sown  January  1st,  are  now  being 
potted  in  three  inch  pots.  Selected  and  shifted  stock 
plants  of  Verbenas,  Geraniums,  Fuchsias,  Chrysanthe- 
mums, Roses,  etc.,  to  be  reserved  for  stock. 

2nd. — Began  to  plant  in  the  open  ground  Carnations 
and  Pinks  that  are  to  be  kept  for  our  own  stock.  (Note. 
— May  2nd.  Since  these  have  been  planted,  the  ground 
has  been  frozen  solid  to  the  depth  of  four  inches,  or  be- 
low the  ball  of  roots,  yet  not  a  single  plant  is  killed,  or 
even  injured.  The  Carnation,  be  it  remembered,  is  al« 


DIAEY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAR.  301 

most  a  hardy  plant,  and  if  not  raised  too  tender,  will 
stand  a  great  amount  of  cold  without  injury.  Our  lesson 
from  this,  then,  is  that,  if  we  have  plants  in  the  neces- 
sary hardy  condition,  they  may  be  planted  out  in  spring 
just  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  dry  enough  to  work  with 
advantage.)  32°— 30°. 

3rd. — Potted  off  Verbenas,  and  continued  planting  Car- 
nations outside.  30°— 32°.  (Note.—  May  2nd.  Those 
planted  from  the  boxes  show  quite  as  well  as  those  that 
had  been  grown  in  pots.) 

4$. — Put  in  cuttings  largely  of  Alternantheras, 
Coleus,  Lantanas,  Bouvardia  roots,  and  such  cuttings  as 
require  the  higher  temperature  that  the  brighter  sun- 
shine now  gives.  30° — 48°. 

5th. — Began  potting  off  a  large  quantity  of  Verbenas 
to-day ;  potted  even  at  this  date,  they  form  splendid 
plants.  25°— 34°. 

7th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Dahlias  and  Lemon  Verbenas, 
the  latter  for  next  year's  stock. 

8$. — Continued  making  Rose  cuttings  and  potting  off 
such  as  are  rooted.  45° — 40°. 

9$.— The  same.     24°— 36'. 

10$.—  The  same.     28°— 34°. 

Ilth.—  The  same.     26°— 32. 

13$. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Lobelia,  Pyrethrum,  and 
similar  plants,  for  baskets  and  vases.  25° — 30°. 

14$.— The  same.     40°— 44°. 

15$.— Put  in  cuttings  of  Coleus,  Verbenas,  Pelargo- 
niums, and  Zonale,  Variegated,  and  Rose  Geraniums. 
It  win  be  noticed  that  this  date  is  later  than  plants  art 
osually  propagated  by  florists— but  every  years'  business 
shows  an  increasing  demand  later  in  the  season,  and  the 
plants  from  these  late  propagations  make  excellent 
specimens  by  June.  See  Succession  Crops,  page  261. 
50°— 60°. 

.— The  same.    48°— 52°. 


302  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTUEE. 

llili, — Continued  putting  in  Verbena  and  Rose  cut- 
tings,  and  planted  out  Carnations  in  open  ground.  No 
Rose  cuttings  yet  planted  out,  on  account  of  a  very  wet 
gpell.  There  would  be  no  danger  from  frost  now,  were 
the  ground  sufficiently  dry.  40° — 44°. 

18th.—  Putting  in  large  lots  of  Coleus  cuttings. 

20th. — Sowed  Tomatoes  for  a  succession  crop.  44° 
—46°. 

21s/. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Double  White  Primula,  for 
fall  stock.  42°— 48°. 

22nd. — First  planting  of  Roses  in  the  open  ground. 
Plants  -in  very  fine  condition.  They  would  have  been 
planted  ten  days  ago  if  the  ground  had  been  dry.  4G° 
—62°. 

23rd.—  The  same. 

24/A. — Put  in  to-day  20,000  Verbena  cuttings.  These 
will  make  very  fine  plants  by  the  end  of  May.  32° — 44°. 

25th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Dahlias  and  Double  Gerani- 
ums. 40°— 36°. 

21th.—  Selected  the  best  Pansies,  and  planted  them  out 
for  seed  for  stock.  40° — 48°. 

28th.—  Planted  out  Roses.     36°— 42°. 

29*A.— The  same.     42°— 46. 

3Qth. — Rose  cuttings  made  to-day,  later  than  this, 
it  is  rather  uphill  work  propagating  Roses,  owing  to 
the  increased  heat  of  the  advancing  season.  42°— 60°. 

MAY. 

I*/.— Planted  out  Lilies,  Paeonies,  and  other  hardy 
plants,  in  open  ground,  divided  Caladium  Bulbs  and 
potted  into  two  inch  pots  in  leaf  mould  and  sand  ;  also> 
potted  and  started  Tuberous  rooted  Begonias  and  Glox- 
inias, find  these  tropical  bulbs  should  not  be  started 
much  earlier  than  this  date.  42°— 60°. 


DIABY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOB  THE  YEA.R.  303 

2nd. — Planted  out  in  open  ground  seedling  Verbenas 
from  the  boxes  in  which  they  have  been  pricked  out,  at 
distances  of  eighteen  inches  between  the  rows,  and  four 
inches  between  the  plants,  also,  stock  plants  of  named 
Verbenas.  They  are  put  thus  close  to  admit  of  rejecting 
inferior  sorts  as  they  flower.  46° — 52°. 

4th. — Pricked  out  Egg  Plants  from  third  sowing,  (April 
10th)  and  also  potted  those  previously  pricked  out  in 
boxes.  Egg  plants  being  rather  difficult  to  transplant, 
we  prefer  to  pot  them,  but  there  is  no  such  reason  for 
putting  Tomato  or  Pepper  plants  in  pots.  46° — 54°. 

5th. — Potted  off  root  cuttings  of  Bouvardia  in  largo 
quantities.  48° — 52°. 

6th. — Planted  out  in  the  open  ground  stock  plants  of 
Variegated  and  Zonale  Geraniums,  the  ones  we  have  been 
propagating  from  all  winter,  also  the  young  plants  shifted 
for  new  stock.  50° — 53°. 

1th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Dahlias,  Coleus  and  Al- 
ternanthera,  and  potted  off  such  as  are  rooted.  50° — 44°. 

8th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Lemon  Verbenas  for  next  sea- 
son's stock,  and  potted  off  the  last  of  Verbena  cuttings 
for  the  season.  42°— 52°. 

9th. — Potted  off  a  general  assortment  of  bedding  plants 
mostly  new,  for  our  own  stock.  46° — 54°. 

llth.—  Planted  out  Roses  largely.     48°— 56°. 

12th.—  Potted  off  Eose  cuttings.     46°— 50°. 

13th. — Potted  off  the  Lemon  Verbenas  that  were  put 
in  on  the  7th  ult.  ;  found  them  too  largely  rooted,  but 
had  no  room  to  pot  off  until  now.  They  should  have 
been  potted  off  ten  days  ago.  52° — 56°. 

•\_UJi. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Chrysanthemums,  Phloxes, 
and  Lan tanas,  for  plants  for  next  fall  and  winter  sales, 
we  find  that  Chrysanthemum  cuttings  from  healthy  stock, 
put  in  now,  make  plants  large  enough  for  six  or  seven 
inch  pots  by  October,  if  properly  shifted.  54° — 50°. 


304  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 


.—  The  same.     50°—  58°. 

l£th.  —  Budding  Koses  on  Manetta  stock,  grown  in 
three-  inch  pots. 

18th.  —  Potted  off  Geraniums,  etc.,  etc.  As  we  are 
running  short  of  Egg  plants,  have  put  in  2,000  of  the 
tops  as  cuttings,  as  it  is  too  late  to  sow  seed  —  but  the 
plan  is  not  advised  if  it  can  be  avoided.  54°  —  56°. 

19^.  —  Potted  off  Dahlias  and  Lemon  Verbenas.  50° 
—54°. 

20th,—  The  same.     52°—  56°. 

22nd.  —  Put  in  cuttings  of  Pelargoniums  for  fall  and 
winter  stock.  52°—  56°. 

23rd.—  The  same.     54°—  64°. 

25th.  —  Potted  off  Double  White  Primulas  put  in  on 
the  21st  ult.,  with  a  loss  not  exceeding  one  per  cent. 
58°_66°. 

2Qth.  —  Planted  out  stock  plants  of  Petunias,  Calceola- 
rias, Pentstemons,  etc.  57°—  68°. 

27th.  —  Planted  out  Eoscs  in  large  quantities  to-day. 
58°_56°. 

28th.  —  Shifted  winter  flowering  Roses  from  three  to 
four  inch  pots.  54°  —  60°. 

29M.—  T  he  same.     58°—  64°. 

30^.-—  The  same.  62°—  68°.  Divided  and  planted 
out  Canna  roots  in  open  ground,  also  Dahlias  from  green 
cuttings  together  with  stock  of  Colons,  Alternanthera,  etc. 

JUNE. 

1st.  —  Planted  out  in  shallow  benches  (having  four 
inches  of  soil)  stock  plants  of  Roses  from  four  inch  pots, 
ten  inches  apart,  these  are  the  plants  from  which  our 
Bummer  propagation  of  Roses  is  made.  The  soil  used  in 
the  benches  is  good  loam,  without  manure.  62°  —  66°. 

2nd.  —  Potted  off  cuttings  of  Egg  Plants  that  were  put 
in  on  the  18th  inst,  $2°—  QQ°, 


DIAKY   OF  OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAR.  305 

3rd. — Potted  Chrysanthemums,  Phloxes,  and  Lan- 
tanas,  that  were  put  in  on  the  14th  ult.  60° — 64°. 

4M — Continued  to  put  in  Dahlia  cuttings.     64° — 68°. 

5th. — Planted  out  our  collection  of  hardy  Herbaceous 
Plants.  66°— 70°. 

6th. — Shaded  all  glass  very  slightly  by  syringing  it  with 
Naptha  and  White  Lead;  using  only  enough  to  sprinkle 
it  like  rain  drops,  over  such  plants  as  Roses.  68° — 72°. 

8th. — Topped  Carnation  plants  that  were  planted  out 
on  April  2nd,  to  keep  them  dwarf  and  bushy.  60° — 64°. 

9th.—  Potted  off  Roses,  Dahlias  and  double  White  Prim- 
roses. 62°— 66°. 

IMh.—  Repotted  stock  plants  of  Double  White  Prim- 
roses. They  are  kept  under  glass  during  summer,  and 
rather  lightly  shading  the  glass  from  May  1st  to  Novem- 
ber 1st,  heavier  shading  being  given  during  the  months 
of  July  and  August.  54° — 60°. 

Ilth. — Shifted  the  Lemon  Verbenas  that  were  potted 
on  May  13th  from  two  inch  to  three  and  four  inch  pots, 
in  which  they  will  remain  all  summer.  Shifted  Caladiums 
potted  May  1st  into  three  and  four  inch  pots.  64° — 68°. 

12th. — Washed  the  soil  entirely  from  the  roots  of  stock 
Pelargoniums,  which  have  been  exhausted  by  excessive 
cutting  for  propagation,  and  potted  in  a  size  smaller  pots. 
66°— 68°. 

13^. — Planted  out  Bouvardias  in  open  ground,  at  a 
distance  of  nine  inches  each  way.  68° — 70°. 

15^/i. — Finished  planting  out  Roses  on  benches  for 
propagation  began  on  the  1st  inst.  64° — 66°. 

16th.—  Repotted  Roses,  to  be  kept  in  pots  during  sum- 
mer and  fall,  to  force  for  flowers  in  winter.  62° — 66°. 

1  Sth.  —Planted  out  stock  Dahlias.     66°— 72°. 

19^.— Have  continued  budding  Roses  from  May  16th 
to  this  date  with  excellent  success. 

20^.— Planted  out  large  Roses  that  had  been  left  un- 
sold. 78°— 82°. 


306  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE. 

22d. — Still  propagating  Chrysanthemums  largely.  60° 
—62°. 

23d. — First  lot  of  cuttings  taken  from  the  Roses  planted 
on  benches  on  the  1st.  60° — 72°. 

24:th. — Planted  out  what  remained  of  stock  plants.  58° 
—64°. 

25th. — Carnations  have  been  much  injured  by  contin- 
ued rains;  we  observe  that  they  are  more  susceptible  of 
injury  from  wet  than  almost  any  other  plant  grown,  con- 
sequently all  soils  on  which  they  are  planted  should  bo 
well  drained,  either  naturally  or  artificially.  60° — 68. 

26th. — Shifted  Chrysanthemums,  Hoses,  Bouvardias, 
Carnations,  Solanums,  Geraniums,  Primulas,  Cyclamens 
and  such  plants  as  are  being  grown  for  fall  flowers  or  for 
the  sale  of  plants;  all  are  placed  in  beds  outside  and  ex- 
posed to  full  sunshine  except  Primulas,  Cyclamens,  Cin- 
erarias and  similar  plants,  that  we  find  are  benefitted  by 
being  shaded  with  the  protecting  cloth  "sashes" — (see 
chapter  on  Cloth  Frames) — or  shutters  made  by  tacking 
lath  on  light  frames,  at  an  inch  and  a  half  apart.  These 
are  placed  over  the  plants  in  bright,  hot  days,  from  ten 
to  four  o'clock.  60°— 66°. 

27th.—  Repotted  different  kinds  of  plants  that  are  kept 
in  pots  for  winter,  such  as  Chrysanthemums,  Eupatori- 
ums,  Roses,  Poinsettias,  Heliotropes,  etc.  64° — 76°. 

2Sth. — Potted  off  last  lot  of  Pelargonium  cuttings,  for 
the  season.  66°— 74°. 

3Qth. — Sowed  seeds  of  Hollyhocks,  Carnations,  etc. 

JULY. 

1st. — Repotted  Roses  for  winter  flowering.  Planted  out 
Roses  from  five  inch  pots  on  benches  for  winter.  See 
chapter  on  Rose  Growing  in  Winter.  68° — 70°. 

2d. — Potted  off  Dahlia  cuttings,  the  last  for  the  season; 
later  than  this,  the  roots  would  hardly  ripen  sufficiently. 
66°— 68°. 


DIARY   OF   OPERATIONS   FOR  THE   YEAR.  307 

3d. — Planted  out  Chrysanthemums  on  solid  greenhouse 
borders,  at  one  foot  apart,  for  fall  flowering.  Chrysan- 
themum cuttings  put  in  at  this  date  will  yet  make  fine 
young  plants  to  flower  in  fall,  or  to  keep  over  for  spring 
sales.  72°— 72°. 

6th. — Shifted  Dahlias  from  two  to  three-inch  pots, where 
they  will  now  remain  for  the  season,  care  being  taken, 
however,  to  thin  out  the  shoots  and  lower  leaves,  to  admit 
sufficient  air  to  the  roots  to  ripen  the  tubers.  72° — 76°. 

7^._The  same.     70°— 70°. 

8th.—  The  same.     72°— 78°. 

9th.—  The  same.     74°— 76°. 

IQth. — Shifted  Roses  for  winter  flowering.     76° — 80°. 

11  til. — Putting  in  Rose  cuttings,  largely  from  stock 
plants,  planted  in  benches  in  June. 

13th. — Topped  Carnations, to  induce  a  dwarf  growth  and 
prevent  them  from  exhausting  themselves  now  by  flower- 
ing, as  the  flowers  are  required  only  in  winter.  82°-r-88°. 

l±th. — Weather  exceedingly  hot;  nothing  done  but  to 
water  the  plants  and  clean  up.  76° — 88°. 

15^. — Planted  out  Roses  from  five  inch  pots  on  raised 
benches  for  winter  flowering.  See  chapter  on  Rose  Grow- 
ing in  Winter.  80°— 90°. 

IMh.—  The  same.     88°— 88°. 

11th.—  The  same.     76°— 80°. 

18th.—  The  same.     88°— 88°. 

2Qth.—  The  same.     70°— 74°. 

21st.—  The  same.     72°— 72°. 

22^.— Shifted  Heliotropes,  Chrysanthemums,  Roses, 
etc.,  for  winter  flowering.  74° — 76°. 

23d.—  The  same.     72°— 74°. 

24Jh— .Putting  in  Rose  cuttings,  largely;  have  had  ex- 
cellent success  on  the  first  lots,  unless  in  a  few  cases 
where  stock  was  unhealthy.  72°— 72°. 

25th.—  Planted  out  dry  bulbs  of  Tuberoses  on  benches, 
in  five  inches  of  well-prepared,  rich  soil;  these  we  expect 


308  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

to  flower  in  December.  Every  alternate  sash  is  removed 
from  the  eleven  feet  wide  greenhouse,  so  that  they  have 
almost  full  exposure  to  the  open  air.  The  same  plan  is 
adopted  in  those  greenhouses  where  Chrysanthemums  are 
now  planted  out  from  five  inch  pots,  at  one  foot  apart, 
for  fall  flowering.  76°— 80°. 

27th. — Repotted  Stevia  compacta  and  other  winter- 
blooming  plants.  74° — 76°. 

28/A. — Layered  in  two-inch  pots  Roses  of  some  new 
sorts  that  are  scarce.  There  is  little  loss  in  layering  Roses 
if  it  is  done  in  small  pots  sunk  in  the  soil.  The  practice 
is  now  nearly  done  away  with  in  all  large  establishments. 
66°— 74°. 

29/A. — The  same. 

3Qth. — Shifted  Cyclamens  and  Primroses,  and  thinned 
out  the  Primroses,  spreading  them  over  a  larger  surface, 
to  admit  air  around  the  pots.  68° — 74°. 

31s/. — Pinched  out  the  points  of  the  shoots  of  Chrys- 
anthemums that  were  planted  out  on  the  3d  and  25th 
inst.,  to  make  them  bushy.  70° — 74° 

AUGUST. 

1st. — Second  plan  ting  of  Tuberoses  in  the  manner  done 
on  the  25th  ultimo.  Will  endeavor  to  retard  this  lot  by 
keeping  the  soil  as  dry  as  possible,  the  great  object  being 
to  delay  the  flowering  until  January.  72° — 78°. 

3d. — The  same. 

4*//.— The  same.     72°— 78°. 

5th. — To-day  we  pot  dry  roots  of  Tuberoses,  placing 
them  in  a  cool  shed  and  keeping  them  dry.  They  can 
be  thus  kept  in  a  shed  for  ten  or  twelve  days,  after  which 
they  must  be  exposed  to  the  open  air,  but  will  still  be  kept 
as  dry  as  possible  until  they  begin  to  grow.  They  will  be 
thus  kept  in  pots  (two  roots  in  a  six-inch  pot,)  until  there 
is  danger  of  frost,  when  they  will  be  planted  out  in  soil 
on  the  benches  ^s  the  others  are.  The  object  of  pot- 


DIARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOB  THE  YEAR.  309 

ting  them  at  all  is,  that  their  removal  to  the  benches 
can  be  done  without  injury  to  the  roots,  which  could  not 
be  effected  unless  they  were  first  potted.  If  we  had 
planted  them  at  once  on  the  bench  we  do  not  think  we 
could  keep  them  back  so  well,  as  by  placing  them  in  a 
partially  shaded  place  in  the  open  air.— Cut  over  for  the 
last  time  this  season  those  Carnations  that  are  wanted  to 
produce  flowers  in  December  and  January.  70° — 76°. 

6th. — Shifted  winter- flowering  plants  of  all  kinds. 
Began  to  withhold  water  from  Hybrid  Roses  grown  in 
pots,  so  that  they  can  be  started  in  October,  to  flower  in 
January.  See  Rose  Growing  in  Winter.  70° — 78°. 

1th.—  Removed  Hybrid  Tea  Roses,  such  as  Bennett, 
La  France  and  American  Beauty,  that  have  been  grown 
in  eight-inch  pots,  outside  in  open  air,  to  the  shelter  of 
the  greenhouse.  70°— 76°. 

8th. — Continued  to  put  in  large  lots  of  Rose  cuttings, 
from  stock  plants  grown  in  benches.  72° — 74°. 

10th. — Potted  off  cuttings,  and  shifted  into  larger  pots, 
Chrysanthemum  laciniatum  (the  winter-flowering  vari- 
ety). 72°— 76°. 

lith. — Continued  to  pinch  back  late  kinds  of  Chrysan- 
themums.  74°— 78°. 

12th.— The  same.     60°— 64°. 

13th. — Put  in  green  cuttings  of  Bouvardia,  Cissus,  etc. 
64°_60°. 

14th. — Shifted  for  the  last  time  this  season  Roses  that 
are  to  be  used  for  winter  flowering.  55° — 62°. 

15th. — Put  in  largely,  at  this  date,  cuttings  of  the 
leading  kinds  of  Alternantheras;  it  is  most  important  to 
do  so  now,  if  a  large  stock  is  wanted  as,  unless  under  very 
high  temperature,  this  plant  cannot  be  grown,  so  that  it 
can  be  propagated  in  winter.  It  is  easily  propagated  in 
May,  but  it  is  then  too  late. 

Yith. — Shifted  Eupatoriums,  Stevias,  Poinsettias,  and 
other  winter-flowering  plants,for  the  last  time  this  season. 


310  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

The  next  shifting  will  be  from  the  pots  to  planting  out  in 
the  benches.  66° — 74°. 

18th. — Washed  the  soil  from  the  roots  of  Hoses  that 
have  become  "pot  bound,"  and  repotted  in  new  pots 
with  fresh  soil.  This  practice  we  find  very  effectual  to 
recuperate  all  plants  that  have  been  stunted  by  any  cause 
whatever.  64°— 72°. 

19M. — Topped  Bouvardias,  to  keep  them  dwarf  and 
delay  the  flowering  until  the  winter  mouths.  70° — 80°. 

20th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Abutilons,  Begonias,  Hibis- 
cus, Moonflowers,  Passifloras,  Salvias,  Trapteolums,  Ivy, 
Geraniums  and  several  assortments  of  bedding  plants; 
also  cuttings  of  Crotons,  Dracenas  and  tropical  plants 
grown  inside.  75° — 72°. 

21s/.— The  same.     72°— 70°. 

22d.—  The  same.     68°— 70°. 

24:th. — Put  in  green  cuttings  of  Bouvardias,  Cissus, 
Clerodendrons,  and  other  plants  of  a  tropical  nature. 
(Note.  —  September  5th.  This  resulted  successfully). 
70°— 76°. 

25th. — Cut  down  stock  plants  of  Pelargoniums,  and 
put  in  the  shoots  as  cuttings.  The  Pelargoniums  have 
been  kept  under  glass  all  summer,  slightly  shaded,  and 
have  ripened  their  shoots  finely,  so  that,  no  doubt,  nearly 
every  cutting  will  grow.  Great  difficulty  is  always  found 
with  the  rooting  of  Pelargoniums  that  have  been  planted 
out.  The  cut  down  plants  will,  of  course,  receive  no 
water  until  they  begin  to  grow.  68° — 74°. 

2Mh. — Stirred  up  the  surface  of  the  Rose  benches  to 
the  depth  of  about  one  inch.  68° — 74°. 

27M. — Repotted  Poinsettia,  Heliotrope,  Eupatorium 
elegans,  and  stock  plants  of  Lantanas,  for  the  last  time 
until  they  are  placed  in  winter  quarters.  64° — 72°. 

2Sth. — Shook  out  and  overhauled  stock  Fuchsias  that 
have  been  injured  by  exposure  outdoors  to  heavy  rains. 
72°— 75°. 


DIARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAE.  311 

.— Cut  back  and  top  dressed  Verbenas,  to  induce 
healthy  growth  of  cuttings.  See  chapter  on  Verbena. 
70°— 74°. 

31st. — Cut  down  stock  Heliotropes  and  put  in  the  cut- 
tings. 70°— 74°. 

SEPTEMBER 

1st. — Potted  off  cuttings  of  new  Bouvardias  that  were 
put  in  on  the  13th  instant,  only  about  one-half  of  which 
have  rooted,  owing  to  too  high  a  temperature.  72° — 80°. 

2d. — Shifted  Roses  thus  early,  so  that  they  may  become 
Bufficiently  rooted  iu  the  pots  to  force  for  winter  flowers. 
65°— 70°. 

3d. — Cut  back  Petunias,  shrubby  Calceolarias,  etc.,  to 
produce  young  shoots  for  cuttings,  which  they  will  do  by 
the  end  of  the  month.  The  hard  growth  of  the  flowering 
ehoots,  or  even  the  ordinary  growth  of  the  blind  shoots 
made  in  summer,  is  too  hard  for  the  purpose.  See  the 
necessary  condition  of  the  cutting  in  chapter  on  Propaga- 
tion. 56°— 60°. 

4ih.— Continued  to  stir  up  the  surface  of  the  Rose 
benches,  50°— 61°. 

5tk. — Lifted  and  potted  Bouvardias  from  the  open 
ground  and  placed  them  against  a  north  wall  outdoors. 
Careful  attention  is  necessary  in  shading  and  watering 
until  they  begin  to  root.  55° — 58°. 

7th.—  The  same.     64°— 62°. 

8th. — Put  in  cuttings  of  Mrs.  Pollock  and  other  Golden 
tricolored  Geraniums  in  propagating  house.  The  propa- 
gation of  all  classes  of  Geraniums  will  be  continued 
from  the  plants  growing  outdoors,  from  now  to  the  end 
of  the  month.  The  plants  of  such  as  are  wanted  for  stock 
are  lifted  and  potted,  as  soon  as  cut  down  for  cuttings, 
60°— 61°. 


312  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

CHAPTER    LVII. 
THE  CULTURE  OF  GRAPE  VINES  UNDER  GLAS& 

In  the  previous  editions  of  this  work  I  have  included 
a  chapter  on  Hothouse  Grape  Culture,  and  though  it  is 
outside  of  the  legitimate  scope  of  the  book,  yet  I  have 
found  that  not  only  are  quite  a  number  of  florists  them- 
selves, (particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  large  summer 
resorts),  find  it  profitable  to  combine  the  growing  of 
Grapes  with  their  flower  business,  and  in  addition,  in 
many  sections  of  the  country  the  patrons  of  the  florists 
often  desire  to  add  a  Grapery  to  their  establishment,  and 
look  to  the  florist  for  information  on  this  subject,  which 
he  does  not  often  possess. 

It  is  many  years  since  I  have  had  personal  experience 
in  the  growing  of  grapes  under  glass,  and  this  was  so 
limited  that  I  feel  incompetent  to  do  justice  to  the  subject, 
even  in  the  short  treatise  that  my  restricted  space  here 
will  permit.  For  this  reason  I  have  called  in  the  assist- 
ance of  my  life-long  friend,  Mr.  Hugh  Wilson,  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  whose  knowledge  of  the  subject  is,  perhaps,  equal 
to  that  of  any  one  in  this  country. 

THE   LOCATION   OF  THE   VINERY. 

As  with  all  glass  structures,  the  vinery  should,  when- 
ever practicable,  be  in  a  situation  sheltered  from  the 
north  and  west,  and  if  the  ground  is  gently  sloping  to- 
wards the  south-east  so  much  the  better. 

THE   BORDER 

or  soil  in  which  the  vines  are  to  be  planted,  is  an  all  im- 
portant matter.  It  is  rarely  that  the  natural  soil  is  of 
such  a  character  as  would  serve  the  purpose,  and  hence, 
in  nearly  every  case,  it  is  nesessary  to  prepare  the  ma- 


CULTURE  OP  6RAPE  VttfES  UHDER  GLASS.         3l3 

terials  for  the  "  border.  "  The  usual  rule  laid  down  is, 
to  take  of  the  top  spit  (or  spade's  depth),  from  an  old 
pasture,  as  the  main  material  of  the  border — say  three 
parts;  lime  rubbish,  charcoal,  scrapings  from  a  paved 
street,  or  oyster  shells  broken  up,  one  part ;  rotted  stable 
manure  one  part,  with  perhaps  one  ton  of  crushed  bones 
added  to  every  twenty  tons  of  this  border  compost. 
Something  depends  upon  the  soil  of  the  pasture  from 
which  the  top  spit  is  taken;  if  it  is  a  heavy,  adhesive  loam, 
more  in  proportion  of  the  lime  rubbish  or  street  scrapings 
should  be  added,  as  it  is  all  important  that  when  the  or- 
ganic substances  of  the  manure  or  fibers  of  the  sod  are 
rotted  away,  that  the  material  forming  the  border  should 
not  become  sodden  or  solid,  so  that  it  would  be  retentive 
of  water  and  impervious  to  air.  For  this  reason,  when 
choice  can  be  made,  the  pasture  from  which  this  turfy  top 
spit  is  taken,  should  be  of  ashaly  or  calcareous  character. 
If  the  whole  material  for  the  border  can  be  prepared  a 
year  before  using  so  much  the  better ;  let  it  be  repeated- 
ly turned  so  as  to  mix  the  different  ingredients  thorough- 
ly. This  is  not  indispensable,  however,  as  we  have  often 
used  the  compost  fresh  with  nearly  as  good  results. 

THE  EXCAVATION   FOR  THE   BORDER 

should  be  made  from  16  to  20  inches  deep,  and  of  the 
width  of  the  grapery  itself  ;  that  is,  if  the  grapery  is  a 
span  roof,  20  feet  wide — the  border  on  each  side  should 
not  be  made  less  than  10  feet  wide  to  begin  with — and  in 
two  or  three  years  should  be  extended  to  double  that 
width.  If  the  house  is  a  "  lean  to,  "  15  or  20  feet  outside. 
For  a  span  roof,  make  it  the  same  distance  on  each  side 
outside.  Above  everything,  it  is  indispensable  that  this 
excavation  be  thoroughly  drained — it  should  be  formed 
so  that  the  bottom  slopes  about  one  foot  in  twenty  to  the 
outside  of  the  border,  and  there  a  drain  should  be  placed  of 
sufficient  capacity  as  to  quickly  carry  off  all  surplus  from 


314  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

the  rains  that  may  fall  on  the  border.  Perhaps  the  safest 
and  simplest  plan  to  prevent  the  roots  getting  through 
into  the  cold  subsoil  is  to  cement  the  bottom  of  this  ex- 
cavation. One  inch  of  thickness  of  cement  is  enough. 
When  this  is  done  the  border  material  may  be  thrown  in, 
filling  it  up  five  or  six  inches  higher  than  ths  general 
level  to  allow  for  settling.  Be  careful  never  to  handle 
the  materials  for  the  border  in  wet  weather. 

OP  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  VINERY 

little  may  be  here  said,  as  there  are  now  architects  in 
every  large  city,  fully  competent  to  give  plans.  I  will 
simply  say  that  for  early  forcing,  or  perhaps  in  all 
graperies  where  artificial  heat  is  used,  the  lean-to  or  one- 
sided structure  is  preferable,  or  what  is  more  sightly  and 
will  answer  equally  well,  is  the  two-third  span  green- 
house now  considered  the  best  model  for  Rose  forcing. 
(See  Greenhouse  Structures.)  While  for  cold  graperies, 
or  those  not  heated  artificially,  the  curvilinear  or  span- 
roofed  is  the  best.  (See  Green-house  Structures.)  The 
"  lean-to  "  or  "  two-third  span  "  may  be  1 8  or  20  feet 
wide,  and  of  any  desired  length,  giving  a  length  of  rafter 
from  20  to  24  feet.  When  the  curvilinear  span  for  cold 
vineries  are  used,  the  base  width  may  be  25  feet,  which 
will  give  about  15  feet  of  rafter  on  each  side. 

PLANTING  THE  VINE. 

Amateurs  planting  graperies,  commonly  desire  to  pro- 
duce vines  that  are  two  or  three  years  old,  but  such  as 
have  had  much  experience  with  stocking  new  graperies, 
know  that  a  one-year-old  vine  that  is  well  ripened,  better 
answers  the  purpose  than  those  of  greater  age;  in  fact  it 
is  a  question  whether  a  vine  started  from  an  eye  in  Feb- 
ruary or  March,  and  planted  in  June,  will  not  by  Sep- 
tember make  as  fine  a  cane  as  one  of  any  greater  age. 
As  such  vines  are  not  very  easily  transportable  or  even 
procurable  at  all  by  beginners,  the  best  thing  they  can  do 


CULtUEE  OP  GRAPE  VltfES  UNDER  GLASS.        315 

is  to  procure  well-grown  one-year-old  vines  and  plant 
them  in  spring,  but  not  too  early— say  May  in  this  lati- 
tude, or  just  when  their  buds  are  beginning  to  start  if 
kept,  as  they  should  have  been,  in  a  cool  place.  It  is 
best  to  shake  the  soil  from  the  ball  of  the  young  vines 
that  have  been  grown  in  pots,  although  the  disentangle- 
ment or  spreading  of  the  roots,  to  which  so  much  im- 
portance is  by  some  attached,  is  of  no  consequence.  In 
planting  it  has  ever  been  my  practice  to  set  the  roots  out- 
side, drawing  the  tops  through  the  apertures  formed  in 
the  wall,  a  little  higher  than  the  border  inside  the  house 
(if  there  is  one).  The  distance  apart  at  which  the  vines 
should  be  planted  is  three  feet.  Strong  galvanized  wire 
should  be  run  horizontally  fifteen  inches  across  the  rafters 
and  fifteen  inches  from  the  glass,  on  which  to  train  the 
vines. 

I  may  here  state  to  such  as  may  object  to  outside 
planting  for  hot  house  or  forcing  graperies,  that  I  have 
grown  vines  so  planted  for  twenty  years  in  succession,  and 
never  failed  to  have  a  satisfactory  crop.  And  do  not 
think  it  of  any  importance  to  prepare  borders  inside  of 
the  house  where  the  exclusion  of  the  light  when  the 
vines  are  in  full  leaf,  must  render  the  value  of  the  roots 
inside  of  but  little  importance.  In  early  forcing  of 
course,  sufficient  leaves  or  manure  must  be  used  to  cover 
the  border  to  exclude  all  frost. 

Firing  begun  about  the  first  of  February.  But  for 
earlier  forcing,  say  that  beginning  in  December  or 
January,  it  is  necessary  to  heat  such  a  border  by  the 
use  of  hot  manure  or  leaves,  which  must  be  in  sufficient 
depth  to  ferment ;  and  it  must  be  covered  with  boards  in 
winter  so  as  to  throw  off  rain.  The  treatment  of 


VINES   THE   FIRST   SEASON 


is  very  simple,  presuming  they  have  been  planted  in  May 
and  were  cut  back  to  two  or  three  buds  inside  the  front 


316  PRACTICAL  FLOKICULTCRE. 

wall.  Select  the  strongest  growth  from  one  of  these 
buds,  tying  it  to  the  wires  as  it  grows,  and  pinching  off 
to  one  leaf  the  laterals  or  side  shoots  which  it  will  throw 
out  above  the  first  joint,  until  it  reaches  the  top  of  the 
house,  after  which  let  it  revel  at  will. 

THE   SECOND   SEASON. 

After  planting,  this  single  shoot  or  cane  should  be  cut 
down  to  the  foot  of  the  rafter,  from  which  a  shoot  will 
be  allowed  to  grow  as  on  the  previous  season.  Vines  are 
not  allowed  to  fruit  in  their  first  year's  growth.  When 
the  vines,  however,  are  strong  and  well  ripened,  instead 
of  cutting  them  down  as  above  stated,  I  have  adopted  the 
following  plan  of  fruiting  the  shoot,  with  good  success: 

On  well-grown  vines  the  shoot  or  cane  will  be  well 
ripened,  seven  or  eight  feet  from  bottom  of  the  rafter; 
this  shoot  is  "layered"  by  being  twisted  once  round  (in 
order  to  check  the  flow  of  sap),  in  a  twelve-inch  pot, 
which  is  filled  up  with  vine  border  compost;  roots  will 
be  emitted  from  this  "layer"  sufficient  to  sustain  and 
mature  the  fruit,  and  as  good  a  shoot  will  grow  from  be- 
low the  layer  as  if  it  had  been  cut  down,  as  is  usually 
done;  and  if  the  young  cane  has  been  well  matured  the 
previous  season,  a  good  crop  will  be  secured  with  no  in- 
jury to  the  part  of  the  vine  relied  on  for  permanent  use. 
The  layer  after  fruiting  may  be  thrown  away  or  cut  off 
and  used  as  a  plant. 

[The  plan  is  often  adopted  by  those  planting  new  gra- 
peries to  use  the  space  that  otherwise  would  be  useless  by 
fruiting  vines  in  pots,  so  that  from  the  first  erection  of 
the  grapery,  fruit  can  be  obtained.  Such  vines  are  spe- 
cially prepared  for  this  purpose  and  can  usually  be  ob- 
tained from  those  who  make  a  specialty  of  growing  hot- 
house grape  vines.  They  should  be  such  as  are  grown  in 
ten-inch  pots,  and  should  have  the  canes  thoroughly 
ripened,  and  not  less  than  an  inch  in  circumference. 


CULTURE   OF   GRAPE   VINES   UNDEB   GLASS.          317 

shoots  should  be  cut  back  to  four  or  five  feet,  and 
br  avowed  to  bear  from  four  to  eight  pounds  of  grapes, 
according  to  their  strength.  They  should  be  fruited  in 
the  pots  in  which  they  are  grown;  not  shifted;  but  when 
well  started  into  growth,  may  be  fed  with  manure  water. 
Such  vines  cost  from  two  and  a  half  dollars  to  five  dollars 
each,  according  to  size.  The  Black- Hamburg  is -the  best 
to  use  for  this  purpose. — P.  H.] 

THE  THIRD   SEASON. 

At  the  pruning  of  the  ripe  wood,  instead  of  cutting  tho 
vine  down  to  a  third  of  its  length,  or  five  feet  on  a  fifteen 
foot  rafter,  I  think  it  preferable  to  leave  two-thirds,  aud 
if  the  vine  is  strong  and  well-matured  it  will  break  freely, 
but  allow  it  to  bear  only  a  light  crop.  By  doing  this,  I 
have  found  the  strength  of  the  vine  better  equalized,  as 
a  strong  vine  when  shortened  to  five  feet,  is  apt  to  make 
a  stronger  growth  on  the  following  season,  leaving  the 
lower  part  comparatively  weak. 

THE      FOURTH     SEASON. 

A  full  crop  may  be  taken,  which  should  be  about 
eighteen  or  twenty  pounds  to  each  rafter  of  fifteen  feet  in 
length. 

TRAINING   THE  VINE. 

In  this  short  series  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  "spur 
system,"  which  is  the  easiest  to  be  comprehended  by  those 
beginning  the  culture  of  the  vine.  It  is  done  in  this  way: 
presuming  that  the  vine  has  reached  its  "third  season," 
and  has  been  cut  back  to  say  ten  feet  from  the  foot  of  the 
rafter,  the  cane  is  allowed  to  branch  or  spur  at  each 
joint  or  eye,  a  shoot  from  the  upper  part  of  the  cane  is 
allowed  to  run  to  the  top  of  the  house,  which  completes 
the  length  of  the  cane.  The  side  shoots,  or  bearing  wood, 


318  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE. 

are  cut  back,  or  spurred  tc  one  eye.  The  vine  is  now 
complete.  The  upper  part  will  bear  its  first  crop  on  its 
next  season's  growth;  the  bearing  wood  when  next  pruned 
will  be  cut  back  as  before  to  one  eye,  and  so  on  annually 
the  side  branches  or  bearing  wood  to  be  cut  back  to  one 
eye,  the  bunches  of  fruit  being  borne  on  the  spurs  annu- 
ally. • 

IN   FORCING   VINERIES. 

The  temperature  to  start  with  should  be  from  fifty  to 
fifty-five  degrees  at  night,  with  a  day  temperature  of  ten 
or  fifteen  degrees  higher,  increasing  ten  degrees  when  the 
buds  are  fairly  broken,  which  will  be  in  about  a  month 
from  time  of  starting;  in  six  or  seven  week?  more,  the 
fruit  will  be  set  and  the  temperature  may  be  raised  ten 
degrees  more,  and  so  continued.  Next  in  importance  to 
temperature  is 

MOISTURE. 

The  vine  luxuriates  in  what  gardeners  call  a  "'  tropical 
atmosphere,"  and  during  the  whole  period  of  its  growth, 
particularly  in  our  arid  climate,  the  grapery  should  be 
copiously  syringed  twice  a  day  with  water  of  the  temper- 
ature of  the  house,  until  the  first  young  leaves  are  formed. 
Besides  this,  evaporating  pans  placed  on  the  pipes  should 
at  all  times  be  kept  full  of  water.  In  cold  vineries,  where 
there  are  no  pipes,  water  should  be  freely  dashed  all  over 
the  floor;  this  necessity  for  moisture  occurs  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  growth  of  the  vine  until  the  fruit  is 
beginning  to  ripen,  except  that  at  the  time  the  vines  are 
in  flower,  it  must  be  discontinued,  as  a  dry  atmosphere 
is  best  fitted  for  the  proper  fertilizing  action  of  the  pol- 
len. I  have  long  believed  the  cause  of 

RUST   ON   THE   GRAPE, 

Is  an  excess  of  moisture  at  the  time  of  the  "  setting  " 
of  the  fruit;  the  "  flower/'  the  cup  of  petals,  instead  of 


CULTURE   OF   GRAPE  VINES   UNDER   GLASS.          319 

dropping  off  will,  in  a  moist  atmosphere,  adhere  to  the 
forming  berry,  and  while  being  forced  off  by  the  growth 
of  the  latter,  it  leaves  its  impression  on  the  tender  skin, 
which  increases  in  size  as  the  berry  grows  and  results  in 
the  well  known  mark  on  the  matured  fruit  called  from 
its  appearance  "rust." 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  jar  the  wire  or  trellis  to  which  the 
vines  are  tied,  when  they  are  in  flower,  so  as  to  cause  a 
movement  of  the  pollen  through  the  house.  This  will  be 
found  to  greatly  assist  in  "setting"  the  fruit  of  such 
varieties  as  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  which  does  not  some- 
times set  freely. 

THINNING. 

Only  one  bunch  of  grapes  should  be  left  on  each 
spur  or  shoot,  if  large  bunches  are  desired.  The 
berries  should  be  thinned  when  they  are  not  larger 
than  peas  ;  if  left  until  the  bunches  are  crowded,  the 
process  of  thinning  is  not  only  much  slower  but  the 
berries  are  more  apt  to  be  bruised.  I  have  long  been 
guided  in  thinning  grapes  by  the  fact  (and  one  I  think 
not  generally  noticed),  that  the  flowers  of  the  grape  are 
produced  in  sets  of  three.  In  cases  where  each  of  the 
three  flowers  form  a  berry,  two  may  be  safely  cut  out  in 
thinning;  but  in  many  instances  two  only  are  formed, 
and  sometimes  only  one,  which  the  operator  must  take 
into  consideration  in  thinning.  With  large  clusters  it  is 
necessary  to  cut  away  entirely  from  the  heart  of  the  bunch 
many  of  these  sets  of  three  alluded  to.  The  large  bunches 
of  some  of  the  varieties  ought  to  be  "shouldered,"  that 
is,  the  shoulders,  or  loose  and  overhanging  portions  of 
the  clusters,  are  to  be  tied  up  from  the  main  body  of  the 
bunch,  giving  opportunity  for  fuller  development.  This 
is  especially  necessary  with  Hamburgs  and  Muscats. 


320  PRACTICAL   FLORICULTURE, 

SUMMER   PRUNING 

Should  commence  just  before  the  vines  are  in  flower. 
The  shoot  may  be  shortened  to  one  joint  above  the 
bunch  intended  to  be  left.  The  laterals  which  grow  be- 
low the  bunch  must  be  rubbed  off,  while  that  which 
grows  by  the  bunch  and  above  it  is  to  be  left  and  short- 
ened to  one  joint.  When  the  laterals  have  again  made  a 
few  leaves  they  need  to  be  again  shortened  in  the  same 
way,  all  through  the  season  while  the  vine  continues  to 
grow. 

MULCHING   THE    BORDER 

Is  always  beneficial  if  not  indispensable  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  grapery,  not  only  to  protect  the  roots  from 
being  frozen  in  winter,  but  also  because  when  such  fer- 
tilizing materials  as  stable  manure  is  used,  the  roots  are 
drawn  to  the  surface  of  the  border,  which  greatly  con- 
duces to  the  health  of  the  vine  and  the  quality  of  the 
fruit. 

PROTECTING   THE  VINES  IN   COLD   GRAPERIES 

Is  of  great  benefit.  About  the  simplest  way  to  do  so 
is  to  run  a  board  along  eighteen  inches  or  so  from  the 
front  wall.  After  pruning  the  vines  (which  may  be  done 
at  any  time  after  they  drop  their  leaves),  they  are  to  be 
taken  down  from  the  wires  and  laid  down  between  this 
boarding  and  the  front  wall,  and  the  space  entirely  filled 
up  with  soil  or  sand.  It  is  necessary,  though,  to  watch 
that  ground  mice  do  not  get  to  the  vines,  as  they  might 
destroy  them  by  eating  the  bark.  We  have  found  that 
vines  so  covered  up  keep  admirably,  and  that  the  plan  is 
less  liable  to  draw  vermin  than  when  they  are  covered 
with  straw  or  hay.  They  are  usually  covered  up  about 
the  middle  of  December,  and  are  not  uncovered  or  other- 
wise disturbed  until  the  first  of  May,  when  they  are  lifted 


CULTURE   OF  GRAPE   VINES   UNDER  GLASS.          321 

up  and  tied  to  the  wires,  and  started  as  before  described. 
In  cases  where  it  is  not  practicable  to  cover  with  sand  or 
soil,  the  vines  can  be  laid  down  snugly  along  the  front 
wall  and  covered  up  with  mats  or  bagging;  but  in  either 
manner  of  covering  up  the  grapery  must  be  freely  venti- 
lated during  the  warm  part  of  the  day,  unless  in  ex- 
tremely cold  weather. 

VARIETIES. 

The  varieties  that  I  consider  to  be  best  suited  for  a 
cold  vinery  of  fifty  feet  in  length,  requiring  twenty-one 
permanent  vines,  would  be:  twelve  Black  Hamburgs,  two 
White  Frontignac,  two  Forster's  White  Seedling,  two 
Purple  Constantia,  two  Muscat  Hamburg,  one  Koyal 
Ascot. 

FOR  VINES  FOR  FORCING. — Ten  Black  Hamburg,  two 
Grizzly  Frontignac,  two  Victoria  Hamburg,  two  Golden 
Hamburg,  one  Btickland  Sweetwater,  two  Muscat  of 
Alexandria,  two  Cannon  Hall  Muscat;  the  last  two  at 
hottest  end. 

I  regret  the  necessity  of  being  compelled  to  compress 
these  notes  into  so  limited  a  space,  being  well  aware  that 
many  of  the  points  alluded  to  should  have  been  more 
fully  treated.  But  I  trust  what  has  been  said  may  be  of 
some  benefit  in  guiding  beginriers  who  are  entirely  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  grape  culture  under  glass.  To  the 
experienced  grape-grower  it  contains  few  facts  but  those 
he  already  knows,  and  is,  no  doubt,  wanting  in  many  that 
he  is  familiar  with. 


INDEX. 


Baskets  for  Packing 264 

Baskets  of  Flowers... 220 

Bouquets,  Making  of  - 217 

Bulbs  for  Winter  Flowers 175 

Calendar  of  Operations 282 

Cellars  for  Winter  Protection..  72 
Chimneys,  Danger  of  Wooden..  87 
City  or  Village  Lot,  Design  for.  81 
Cold  Frames —Winter  Protec- 
tion  91 

Colors,  Nature's  Law  of 256 

Conservatory  Attached  to  Dwell- 
ing—Heating  104 

Cuttings,  Dahlia 122 

Fungus  of  the  Bench 126 

Medium  for , 124 

Plants  Propagated  from ....  120 

Potting  of 125 

Proper  Condition  of 121 

Root 123 

Temperature  for -  .124 

Time  Required  to  Root. ...  127 

Ventilation  of. 125 

Where  to  Cut 122 

Dahlia  Cuttings 122 

Designs  in  Straw,  Willow  and 

Wire  for  Floral  Work .  .236 

Decoration  of  Rooms 213 

Diary  of  Operations .282 

For  January 294 

"    February 298 

"    March 298 

•«   April - 300 

"    May 302 

«   June 304 

"    July 306 

"    August 308 

"   September 282-311 

"    October 288 

"    November. 289 

"    December 292 

Diseases  Affecting  Plants 267 

Drainage  in  Pots 68 

Dryness,  Degrees  of 60 

Dwellings,  Greenhouses  Attach- 
ed to 88 

"  Excelsior  "  Packing  Material. 263 
Expert  Garden  Workmen 69 


Floriculture,  The  Profits  of 19 

Florist,  How  to  Become  a. 9 

Flower  Baskets 220 

Flower  Beds,  Designs  for- ...48-54 
In,  or  at  Junction  of  Walks  45 

The  Planting  of 46 

Flower  Garden,  Designs  for 81 

Design  for 39 

Laying  out  the 30 

Flowers,   What,  Will  Grow  in 

Shade 259 

Flues,  Building  of 86 

Foliage,  Plants  for..     211 

Funeral  Designs .227 

Fungus  of  the  Cutting  Bench..  126 

Garden,  Aspect  and  Soil 22 

Workmen,  Expert. 69 

Gardening  as  a  Business 10 

Begin  Moderately 14 

H.)W  to  Begin 10 

Grape  Vines.    See  Vineries. 
Grape  Vine..,  Culture  of,  Under 

Glass 312 

Greenhouse,  A  Very  Simple 89 

Heating  by  Both  Flue  and 

Pipes 79 

Heating  by  Hot  Water 77 

Plants ..215 

Structures 76 

Succession  Crops  in 261 

Greenhouses,  Attached  to  Dwell- 
ings   88 

Base-burning  Water  Heater  103 

Cheap,  How  to  Heat 83 

"  Cloth  "  Instead  of  Glass 

for ...  90 

Costof 88 

Construction  of  Walls 97 

Glass,  Glazing  and  Shading  98 

Heating  by  Flues 83 

Heating  by  Steam 101 

Modes  of  Heating 100 

Of  Three-quarter  Span 94 

Upon  a  Slope 95 

Hanging  Baskets .240 

Heating  with  Return  Flue 84 

Hotbeds,  Construction  of 74 

Insects  Attacking  Plants 967 


INDEX. 


323 


INSECTS,  DISEASES,  ETC 267 

Angle  Worms 279 

Ants 278 

Aphis,  Aphides. 270 

Black. 272 

Blue 270 

Green.. 271 

Aramigus  Futterii 269 

BlackAphis. 272 

Black  Rust  on  Verbena  -    276 

Blue  Aphis 270 

Carnation  Twitter.. 277 

European  Sparrow .    268 

Fly,  Green 271 

Green  Fly .271 

Macrodavtylis  subspinosa...269 

Mealy  Bug 276 

Mildew 280 

Mite,  Verbena 274 

Pyrethtum,  for  Insects 268 

Red  Spider 272 

Rose  Bug 

Rose  Bug  of  Greenhouse- ..269 

Rose  Slug 

Scale  Insects,   Brown  and 

White 276 

Selandria  rosce    .  267 

Slug,  Rose. 267 

Slugs.. 278 

Snails ..-278 

Soap,  Whale-oil. 267 

Spider,  Red .272 

Sulphide  of  Calcium  for  Mil- 
dew  281 

Thrips -.277 

Tobacco  for  Insects 271 

Verbena,  Black  Rust  of 276 

Mite 274 

Whale-oil  Soap 267 

White    Hellebore    for    In- 
sects  268 

Worms,   Angle 279 

Lawn,  Fertilizer  for.. 28 

On  a  Sloping  Bank 26 

Seed  for. 27 

Weeds  in. 29 

Lawns,  Preparation  for  New...  24 

Renovation  of  Old 29 

Layering  in  the  Air 133 

London,  Window  Gardening  in  246 

Mail,  Sending  Plants  by 265 

Moisture  and  Temperature 57 

Packing.  Baskets  for 264 

In  Europe. 264 

Material,  "  Excelsior  " 263 

Plants  -. - -263 

Parlor  Gardening 242 

Plants.  Are  They  Injurious  to 
'  Health....... 253 


Plants  by  Mail 265 

Packing  of...  .  263 

Plants  Sold  in  Spring.... '.. _~""l51 

Auriculas 153 

Cowslips 152 

Daisies 151 

Forget-Me-Nots 152 

Myosotis 152 

Pansies 151 

Primroses 151 

Plants  Injured  by  Forcing 254 

Pottingof 63 

To  be  Raised  from  Seeds. . .  119 

PLANTS: 

Alyssum,  Sweet .200 

Ampelopsis  tricuspidata 117 

"  VeUchii 117 

Antirrhinum 114 

Asparagus,  Climbing 212 

Asparagus  tenuissimm 212 

Aster.. 117 

Azaleas 203 

Balsams 118 

Double 197 

Begonias,  sorts... 198 

Bermuda  Lily.. 182 

Eignoniajasminoides. 200 

venusta 200 

Bouvardias 195 

Calceolaria .118 

"CallaLily" ..180 

Camellias.. ...208 

Cannalndica 114 

Carnation 118 

Carnations  for  winter  flow- 
ering  193 

Centaurea .117 

Chinese  Primrose.  - 208 

Chrysanthemums,  early 192 

For  cut  flowers 191, 192 

Late...  ...192 

Cineraria.. 117,113 

Cob&a  scandent 114 

Coleus 115 

Daffodils  170 

Delphinium 117 

Dianthus 116 

Easter  Lily 182 

Ericas 204 

Eucharis 209 

Eupatoriums 1 96 

Euphorbia  jacquiniflora 198 

splendens 198 

Ferns 212 

Climbing 213 

Ferneries 249 

Freesiartfractaalba 185 

Fuchsias 198 


324 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE 


Plants: 

Profits  of  Floriculture  18 

Geraniums   .  208 

Propagation,  The  Saucer  Sys- 

Apple scented                212 

tem                                 129 

Lemon  scented               222 

Of  Plants  by  Seeds               106 

Rose  scented  .122 

Soft-wooded  Plants  in  Bum- 

Zonale                           115 

mer                                 131 

Health,  Are  Plants  Injuri- 
ous to?  254 

"  Protecting  Cloth  "  for  Frames  73 
Roads  and  Walks.  -.  37-38 

Heaths                                  204 

Rockwork                                     250 

Heliotropes              197 

Rooms,  Decoration  of      .            213 

Hot-house  Plants                 216 

Plants  for                               214 

Indian  Shot                     .    114 

Root  Cuttings                               12^ 

Jasminum     199 

Rosebuds  in  Summer                  172' 

Lantana  115 

Roses,  Diseases  and  Insects  Af- 

Larkspur                             117 

fecting                            173 

Lilium  Uarrisi    182 

Roses,  Distance  to  Plant             161 

Lily  Bermuda                       182 

ForciDf                                 157 

Easter                             182 

Garden  Culture  of                 170 

Of  the  Amazon               209 

Growing  in  Winter               155 

Of  the  Nile                     185 

Houses  for                            156 

Of  the  Valley                  180 

Hybrid  Perpetuals                105 

Lobelia                                  115 

Hybrid  Perpetuals  in  Solid 

Lygodiuin  ncandens  212 

Beds  167 

Mignonette                            200 

Layering  in  Pots                  140 

Alyrxyihylliim  asparagoides  .217 
Narcissus,      Incomparable, 
Double                           176 

Mildew  Attacking  the  167 
Propagation  by  Cuttings  135 
Propagation     by    Grafting 

Narcissus  Trumpet  Major  l'«J 

and  Budding  141 

Nature's  Law  of  Colors  --.-256 
Orchids                                 204 

Propagation  by  Layering  139 
Propagation    in   the    South- 

Pansy                                    1  15 

em  States  139 

Petunia                                 116 

Pruning                                   163 

Poiusettia                             198 

Shading  the  House              170 

Polyanthus  Narcissus     -  .     176 

Soil  and  Benches  160 

Primrose    Chinese                208 

Solid     Beds     and     Raised 

Primula                                  118 

Benches                          156 

Pyrethrum,  Golden        117 

The  Rose-bug  of  the  Green- 

BUtaritt* jSOnopfca            185 

house                             168 

Roman      Hyacinths,     four 
kinds                   -180 

Varieties  to  Force  .163 
Ventilation  of  Houses  160 

Sage    Scarlet                        116 

WiUfrinir  and  Mulching      161 

Safvia  splendent                      116 

Saucer  System  with  Cuttintrs    127 

Scarlet  Sage  -116 

Seeds,    Flowers    Best    Grown 

Smilax                                   217 

from        -                        114 

Snap-Dragon                          114 

What  Varieties  Come  True 

Stevias                                  196 

From  ?                              110 

Stove  Plants                        216 

Shade,  What  Flowers  Grow  in  258 

Sweet  Alyssum                     200 

Soils  for  Potting                           54 

Tropaeolum                           209 

Spriucr.  Plants  Most  iu  Demand, 

Tuberoses                          .  185 

etc-...  143 

Tuberose  "the  Pearl"         186 

Fancy  Pelargoniums             1  47 

Tulips                                   179 

Other  Plants  147 

Verbena                                116 

Roses                                     144 

Violets  as  winter  flowers    189 

Zonal  Geraniums  145 

Zonale  Geraniums      115 

Succession    Crops    in     Green- 

Pots Drainage  in                           68 

houses        .     .              261 

Pott  in  ir  of  Plants                           63 

Summer,      Propagating      Soft- 

Sills  for                                    54 

Wooded  Plants  in                 131 

Itices,  Abroad  and  at  Home...  15 

Temperature  and  Moisture  67 

Verandas,  Plants  for 214 

Verbena,  Culture  of . 148 

The  "Rust"  in_ ..150 

Vinery,  The  Border 313 

Forcing  Vineries .318 

Location 312 

Moisture  in 318 

Mulching  the  Border -320 

Planting  the  Vines .314 

Protecting  the  Vine 320 

Rust  on  the  Grape 318 

Summer  Pruning 319 

Thinning 319 

Training  the  Vine 317 

Varieties  of  Grapes 321 

Vines,  The  First  Season. -.315 


Vinery— Vines,  The  Second  Sea- 
son.  316 

The  Third  Season 317 

The  Fourth  Season 317 

Wardiau  Cases .249 

Wide  Greenhouses  for  Bedding 
Plants  and  Rose  Grow- 
ing   93 

Window  Decorations,  Plants  in 

Demand  for 153 

Window  Gardening 242 

In  London 176 

Winter  Flowering  Plants .154 

Winter  Protection,  Cellar  for..  72 
Cold  Frames 'A 


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Quinn's  Pear  Culture  for  Profit. 


Teaching  How  to  Raise  Pears  Intelligently,  and  with  the  best  re- 
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Husmann's  American  Grape  Growing:  and  Wine-Making. 

By  George  Husmann  of  Talcoa  vineyards,  Napn,  California.  New 
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White's  Cranberry  Culture. 

Contents:— Natural  History.— History  of  Cultivations-Choice  of 
Location — Preparing  the  Ground.— Planting  the  Vines*— Manage- 
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—Picking. — Keeping. — Profit  and  Ix>ss. — Letters  from  Practical 
Growers.— Insects  Injurious  to  the  Cranberry.  By  Joseph  J.  White, 
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edition.  1.26 

Fuller's  Practical  Forestey. 

A  Treatise  on  the  Propagation,  Planting  and  Cultivation,  with  a 
description  and  the  IxHanical  and  proper  names  of  all  the  indigen- 
ous trees  of  the  United  States,  both  Evergreen  and  Deciduous,  with 
Notes  on  a  large  number  of  the  most  valuable  Exotic  Species.  By 
Andrew  S.  Fuller,  author  of  "Grape  Culturist,"  "Small  Fruit  Cul- 
turist," etc.  1.60 

Stewart's  Irrigation  for  the  Farm,  Garden  and  Orchard. 

Tills  work  is  offered  to  those  American  Farmers  and  other  cultiva- 
tors of  the  soil  who,  from  painful  experience,  can  readily  appre- 
ciate the  losses  which  result  from  the  scarcity  of  water  at  critical 
periods.  By  Henry  Stewart.  Fully  illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  1J50 


Quinn's  Money  in  the  Garden. 


By  P.  T.  Qulnn.  The  author  gives  In  a  plain,  practical  style,  In- 
structions on  three  distinct,  although  closely  connected  branches 
of  gardening — the  kitchen  garden,  market  garden,  and  field  culture, 
from  successful  practical  experience  for  a  term  of  years.  Illustra- 
ted. Cloth.  l-Jino.  UO 


STANDARD  BOOKS. 

Roe's  Play  and  Profit  in  My  Garden. 

By  E.  P.  Roe.  The  author  lakes  us  to  his  garden  on  the  rocky  hUP 
sides  in  the  vicinity  of  West  Point,  and  shows  us  how  out  of  it, 
after  four  years'  experience,  he  evoked  a  profit  of  $1,000,  and  this 
while  carrying  on  pastoral  and  literary  labor.  It  is  very  rarely 
that  so  much  literary  taste  and  skill  are  mated  to  so  much  agri- 
cultural experience  and  good  sense.  Cloth,  12mo.  l  M 

The  New  Onion  Culture. 

By  T.  Greiner.  This  new  work  is  written  by  one  of  our  most  suc- 
cessful agriculturists,  and  is  full  of  new,  original,  and  highly  valu- 
able matter  of  material  interest  to  every  one  who  raises  onions  in 
the  family  garden,  or  by  the  acre  for  market.  By  the  process  here 
described  a  crop  of  2000  bushels  per  acre  can  be  as  easily  raised  as 
600  or  COO  bushels  in  the  old  way.  Paper,  }2mo.  .50 

He  Dairyman's  Manual. 

By  Henry  Stewart,  author  of  "The  Shepherd's  Manual,"  "Irriga- 
tion," etc.  A  useful  and  practical  work,  by  a  writer  who  is  well 
known  as  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  subject  of  which  he  writes. 
Cloth,  12mo.  2.00 

Allen's  American  Cattle. 

Their  History,  Breeding  and  Management.  By  Lewis  F.  Allen. 
This  book  will  be  considered  indispensable  by  every  breeder  of 
live  stock.  The  large  experience  of  the  author  in  improving  the 
character  of  American  herds  adds  to  the  weight  of  his  observations 
and  has  enabled  him  to  produce  a  work  which  will  at  once  make 
good  his  claims  as  a  standard  authority  on  the  subject.  New  and 
revised  edition.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  2.50 

Profits  in  Poultry. 

Useful  and  ornamental  Breeds  and  their  Profitable  Management. 
This  excellent  work  contains  the  combined  experience  of  a  num- 
ber of  practical  men  in  all  departments  of  poultry  raising.  It  is 
profusely  illustrated  and  forms  a  unique  a-nd  important  addition 
to  our  poultry  literature.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.00 

Fhe  American  Standard  of  Perfection. 

The  recognized  standard  work  on  Poultry  in  this  country,  adopted 
by  the  American  Poultry  Association.  It  contains  a  complete  de- 
scription of  all  the  recognized  varieties  of  fowls,  including  turkeys, 
ducks  and  geese;  gives  instructions  to  judges;  glossary  of  technical 
terms  and  nomenclature.  It  contains  244  pages,  handsomely 
bound  in  cloth,  embellished  with  title  in  gold  on  front  cover.  $1.00 

Stoddard's  An  Egg  Farm. 

By  H.  H.  Stoddard.  The  management  of  poultry  in  large  numbers, 
being  a  series  of  articles  written  for  the  AMEKICAN  AGR10ULTDH- 
BT.  Illustrated.  Cloth.  12mo.  & 


STANDARD  BOOKS. 


Stewart's  Shepherd's  Manual 


A  Valuable  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Sheep  for  American  farmer* 
and  sheep  growers.  It  Is  so  i>l:.,n  that  a  farmer  or  a  farmer's  son 
who  has  never  kept  a  sheep,  may  learn  from  its  pages  how  to 
manage  a  flock  successfully,  and  yet  so  complete  that  even  the  ex- 
perlenced  shepherd  may  gather  many  suggestions  from  it.  The 
results  of  personal  experience  of  some  years  with  the  characters 
?f  the  various  modern  breeds  of  sheep,  and  the  sheep  raising  capa 
bilities  of  many  portions  of  our  extensive  territory  and  that  of 
Canada— and  the  careful  study  of  the  diseases  to  which  our  sheep 
are  chiefly  subject,  with  those  by  which  they  may  eventually  be 
afflicted  through  unforseen  accidents — as  well  as  the  methods  of 
management  called  for  under  our  circumstances,  are  carefully 
described.  By  Henry  Stewart.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12ino.  1.50 

Wright's  Practical  Poultry-Keeper. 

By  L.  Wright.  A  complete  and  standard  guide  to  the  management 
of  poultry,  for  domestic  use,  the  markets  or  exhibition.  It  suits  at 
once  the  plain  poulterer,  who  must  make  t  ho  bust  ness  pay,  and  the 
chicken  fancier  whose  taste  is  for  gay  plumage  and  strange,  bright 
birds.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12tno.  $2.00 

Harris  on  the  Pig. 

New  Edition.  Revised  and  enlarged  by  the  author.  The  points  of 
the  various  English  and  American  breeds  are  thoroughly  discussed, 
and  the  great  advantage  of  using  thoroughbred  males  elearlj 
shown.  The  work  is  equally  valuable  to  the  farmer  who  keeps  l>ut 
few  pigs,  and  to  the  breeder  on  an  extensive  scale.  By  Joseph 
Harris.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.60 

The  Farmer's  Veterinary  Adviser. 

A  guide  to  the  Prevention  and  Treatment  of  Disease  In  Domestic 
Animals.  This  is  one  of  the  best  works  on  this  subject,  and  is  es- 
pecially designed  to  supply  the  need  of  the  busy  American  Farm 
er,  who  can  rarely  avail  himself  of  the  advice  of  a  Scientific.  Veter- 
inarian. It  is  brought  up  to  date  and  treats  of  the  Prevention  of 
Disease  as  well  as  of  the  Remedies.  By  Prof.  Jas.  Law.  Cloth. 
Crown,  8vo.  8.00 

Dadd's  American  Cattle  Doctor. 

By  George  H.  Dadd,  M.  D.,  Veterinary  Practitioner.  To  help  every 
man  to  be  his  own  cattle-doctor;  giving  the  necessary  information 
for  preserving  the  health  and  curing  the  diseases  of  oxen,  cows, 
sheep  and  swine,  with  a  great  variety  of  original  recipes,  and  val- 
uable information  on  farm  and  dairy  management.  Cloth,  12mo.  1  .r>C 


Cattle  Breeding. 


By  Win.  Warfleld.  This  work  is  by  common  consent  the  most 
valuable  and  pre-eminently  practical  treatise  on  cattle-breeding 
ever  published  in  America,  being  the  actual  experience  and  ob- 
servance of  a  practical  man.  Cloth,  12mo.  MO 


STANDARD  BOOKS. 

Dadd's  American  Cattle  Doctor. 

A  complete  work  on  all  ths  Diseases  of  Cattle,  Sheep  and  Swine,  In- 
cluding every  Disease  peculiar  to  America,  and  embracing  all  tlie 
latest  information  on  the  Cattle  Plague  and  Trichina;  containing 
also  a  guide  to  symptoms,  a  table  of  Weights  and  Measures,  and  a 
list  of  Valuable  Medicines.  By  George  H.  Dadd,  V.  S.,  twenty-five 
years  .»  leading  Veterinary  Surgeon  in  England  and  the  United 
States,  and  author  of  the  "American  Reformed  Horse  Book."  Cloth, 
octavo.  Illustrated.  2.50 

Cattle  and  Their  Diseases. 

By  A.  J.  Murray,  M.  R.  C.  V.  S.  Breeding  and  Management  of  Cat- 
tie.  This  is  one  of  the  very  few  works  devoted  exclusively  to 
Battle  diseases,  and  will  be  particularly  valuable  to  cattlemen 
for  that  reason.  It  is  written  in  plain,  simple  language,  easily  un- 
derstood by  any  farmer,  while  it  is  learned  and  technical  enough 
to  satisfy  any  veterinary  surgeon.  Cloth,  l-'ino.  2.00 

Silos,  Ensilage,  and  Silage. 

A  practical  Treatise  on  the  Ensilage  of  Fodder  Corn,  containing 
the  most  recent  and  authentic  information  on  this  important  sub- 
ject, by  Manly  Miles,  M.  D.  F.  R.  M.  S.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  .60 

Manures. 

How  to  Make  and  How  to  Use  them.  By  Frank  "W.  Sempers.  The 
author  has  made  a  concise,  practical  handbook  containing  the  lat- 
est researches  in  agriculture  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  reports 
of  the  agricultural  experiment  stations  have  furnished  many  val- 
uable suggestions.  Both  commercial  and  home-made  manures 
are  fully  described,  and  many  formulas  for  special  crops  and  soils 
are  given.  Price  postpaid,  paper  60  cents,  cloth.  1.00 

Potato  Pests. 

No  farmer  can  afford  to  be  without  this  little  book.  It  gives  the 
most  complete  account  of  the  Colorado  Beetle  anywhere  to  be 
found,  and  includes  all  the  latest  discoveries  as  to  the  habits  of  the 
insect  and  the  various  means  for  its  destruction.  It  is  well  Illustra- 
ted, and  exhibits  in  a  map  the  spread  of  the  insect  since  it  left  its 
native  home.  By  Prof .  C.  V.  Riley.  Paper.  .60 

Your  Plants. 

Plain  and  Practical  Directions  for  the  Treatment  of  Tender  and 
Hardy  Plants  in  the  House  and  in  the  Garden.  By  James  Sheehan. 
The  work  meets  the  wants  of  the  amateur  who  grows  a  few  plants 
in  the  window,  or  has  a  small  flower  garden.  Paper  covers.  M. 

Pedder's  Land-Measurer  for  Farmers. 

A  convenient  Pocket  Companion,  showing  at  once  the  content*  of 
any  piece  of  land,  when  its  length  and  width  are  unknown,  up  to 
1600  feet  either  way,  with  various  other  useful  farm  tables.  Cloth, 


STA.NDAED  BOOKS. 

flop  Culture. 

Plain  directions  given  by  ten  experienced  cultivators.  Revised, 
enlarged  and  edited  by  A.  S.  Fuller.  Forty  engravings.  .30 

Wheat  Culture. 

How  to  double  the  yield  and  increase  the  profits.  By  D  S.  Curtiss, 
"Washington,  D.  C.  Importance  of  the  Wheat  Crop.  Varieties  Most 
Grown  in  the  United  States.  Examples  of  Successful  Wheat  Cul- 
ture. Illustrated.  Paper  covers.  .50 

Starr's  Farm  Echoes. 

By  F.  Hatch  ford  Starr,  Echo  Farm,  Litchfleld,  Ct.     This  handsome 
little  book  tells  how  the  author  turned  from  a  successful  business 
career  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  has  achieved  health,  happiness 
and  prosperity  upon  his  broad  acres  near  Litchfleld.    Cloth,  12mo. 
Illustrated.  .50 

The  American  Merino.    For  Wool  or  for  Mutton. 

A  practical  and  most  valuable  work  on  the  selection,  care,  breeding 
and  diseases  of  tho  Merino  sheep,  in  all  sections  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  a  full  and  exhaustive  treatise  upon  this  one  breed  of 
sheep.  By  Stephen  Powers.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.50 


Coburn's  Swine  Husbandry. 


New,  revised  and  enlarged  edition.  The  Breeding,  Rearing,  and 
Management  of  Swine,  and  the  Prevention  and  Treatment  of  their 
Diseases.  It  is  the  fullest  and  freshest  compendium  relating  to 
Swine  Breeding  yet  offered.  By  F.  D.  Coburn.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.75 

Tobacco  Culture:  Full  Practical  Details. 

This  useful  and  Taluable  work  contains  full  details  of  every  process 
from  the  Selection  and  Propagation  of  the  Seed  and  Soil  to  the 
Harvesting,  Curing  and  Marketing  the  Crop,  with  illustrative  en- 
gravings of  the  operations.  The  work  was  prepared  by  Fourteen 
Experienced  Tobacco  Growers,  residing  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  It  also  contains  notes  on  the  Tobacco  Worm,  with  Illus- 
trations. 8vo.  .26 

Keeping  One  Cow. 

A  collection  of  prize  Essays  and  Selections  from  a  number  of  other 
Essays,  with  editorial  notes,  suggestions,  etc.  This  book  gives  (he 
latest  information,  and  in  a  clear  and  condensed  form,  upon  the 
management  of  a  single  Milch  Cow.  Illustrated  with  full  page  en- 
gravings of  the  most  famous  dairy  cows.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.00 

Guenon's  Treatise  on  Milch  Cows. 

A  treatise  on  the  Bovine  Species  in  General.  An  entirely  new 
translation  of  the  last  edition  of  this  popular  and  instructive  book. 
By  Thomas  J.  Hand,  Secretary  of  the  American  Jersey  Cattle  Club. 
With  over  100  illustrations,  especially  engraved  for  this  work. 
Cloth,  12mo.  1JM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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